The Plus One
by minasark
Summary: When Betty suddenly finds herself without a plus one for her sister's wedding, she panics and asks her friendly (albeit brooding) neighborhood bartender to come with as her date. Betty/Jughead Riverdale AU Rated M for swears/just to be safe.
1. Chapter 1: The Idea

Jughead Jones was ahead of schedule for the first time on a Friday night since he opened _Peripeteia_ three years ago. It had been busy early on—standing room only for a solid three hours—but slowly started to thin out once midnight came and went.

This was fairly usual.

The Friday night patrons tended to leave right after midnight, wanting to end their nights at a trendy dance club rather than a throwback cocktail bar and Jughead was more than okay with this progression. He had neither the time nor patience to deal with the 2:00 am party crowd when he was trying to close down the bar and get home to scrounge together whatever sleep he could before waking up and doing it all again the next day.

He was happy that his weekend business was booming, he really was. Ever since he was featured in the New York Times as a 'the trendiest spot in New York City you've never heard of…yet,' _Peripeteia_ was packed on the weekends. He was glad that his weekday business remained—for the most part—slow and steady, giving him time to chat with the people who had been fixtures at _Peripeteia_ ever since he first opened its doors. They usually stuck to coming in on weeknights when there were actually tables available.

Which was why when Betty Cooper—one of his favorite regulars—came into the bar at 1:35 am on Saturday morning, he knew that something was very wrong.

Normally, Betty came in after work on Tuesdays and Thursdays, so he had only ever seen her in business casual attire. Jughead already had a soft spot for the blonde—she was one of the few people who called him out on his shit and got away with it, something he suspected was partly because of her conventionally good looks.

Or so he was told by many of the bar's older male regulars.

Jughead knew she was pretty—would even admit as such when he wanted said older male patrons to stop goading him on about the subject whenever she walked through the _Peripeteia's_ doors.

But Betty Cooper had never taken his breath away before this moment.

Tonight, she was in a cap sleeve blush gown that was stunning in its simplicity. Her hair that was normally pulled into a tight ponytail, framed her face in loose waves. She wore the same soft makeup that she normally did, but opted for a slightly bolder lip than the light pinks she tended to lean toward.

The whole effect was the textbook definition of 'classic beauty.'

She slowly approached the bar, an apologetic look on her face, "I know it's close to last call, Jug, but—"

The suddenness of her voice brought Jughead out of his thoughts.

"You need wine." He stated, bending to grab the Sauvignon Blanc he knew to be the blonde's favorite of his wine selection.

"More than I need air at the moment." She sighed, unceremoniously hopping onto one of the open barstools.

"That bad, huh?" Jughead asked as pouring the wine into the glass he had placed in front of her. He moved to put the bottle back in the wine cooler under the bar, but thought better of it, gently placing the bottle next to her glass for her to refill as necessary.

Betty smiled a little at the gesture, "Thanks, Jug."

He gave her a small nod, throwing a bar towel over his shoulder as he turned to take care of the few remaining patrons at the other end of the bar.

As Jughead went through the motions of his closing routine—last call, closing tabs, clearing tables, sending the remaining servers home—he would periodically glance over at Betty. She had downed her first glass of wine quickly, pouring herself a second which she nursed as she stared off into the distance, her eyes not really focusing on anything in particular.

She didn't seem particularly sad…just exasperated.

There were three topics that Jughead never broached unless the customers brought them up first: religion, politics, and love lives. He suspected that tonight's troubles had something to do with the latter topic.

Jughead couldn't help but think that anyone who was stupid enough to let Betty walk away from them while she looked like that was an idiot. Not to mention that she was one of the genuinely nicest and smartest people he knew.

She was also one of the few people he had come across behind the bar that could keep up with his sarcasm and understand the many literary references he tossed around in conversation. Jughead knew that she had been dating someone based some of the stories that she had told him and the guy would have to be certifiably insane if he treated Betty with anything but the respect she deserved.

Jughead also knew that her family life wasn't so great—it was actually the reason she had moved to New York City in the first place—to get away from her overbearing parents. She would rarely talk about them, but he had heard enough one-sided phone calls in the bar to get that they were a lot to deal with and she struggled from time to time in dealing with them.

After he had locked up the bar's entrance and flipped the mismatched chairs onto the equally mismatched tables—one of the _Peripeteia's_ many charms—he walked behind the bar to finish up washing the dirty glasses he had gathered as he cleaned the tables.

Catching his movement out of the corner of her eye, Betty snapped to attention, suddenly aware of her surroundings.

"Am I the only one in here?" She asked, surprised.

She dug her phone out of her clutch and gasped when she saw the time, "Jug! I'm so sorry. If I am delaying you at all—"

Jughead waved her off, "You aren't delaying me at all. Besides, you seem like you needed to get away for awhile."

Betty sighed as she rested her fingers against the stem of her wine glass, "It…hasn't been the greatest evening."

Jughead gave her a wry look, glancing up from the dish sink, "I gathered that."

The corner of her mouth twitched as she fought back a smile. She took in a deep breath, seemingly weighing the options of whether or not she should continue.

Jughead secretly hoped that she would.

"My sister is getting married."

He paused in his movements, not expecting the reason for her melancholy to be over a sibling's upcoming nuptials.

"And that's…bad?" He ventured, unsure of what else to say. He had gotten the feeling that the familial strain was only between Betty and her parents, not her sister.

"No, it's good." Betty explained, "It's actually very good. Jason is a great guy and makes Polly happy. They're pretty much _perfect_ for one another."

Jughead turned his focus back to the stack of dirty glasses as she spoke, but not before noticed how she winced as she said the word 'perfect.'

"She's actually getting married next weekend back in our home town of Riverdale."

"Mozel tov." Jughead interjected flatly.

Betty flashed him an unamused look as she continued, "I'm leaving for home Sunday…tomorrow. Shit!"

Jughead looked up, his eyebrows raised at her exclamation.

Betty Cooper was not one to swear.

She took her fingers from her wine glass and slowly rested them on either side of her drink, calmly pressing her palms down on the bar.

Jughead stopped washing dishes altogether and leaned against the bar, knowing that whatever Betty had to say next was going to be the reason for her uncharacteristically somber night.

"I am leaving to go back home tomorrow and Chuck was supposed to come with me…" She paused as she took in a shaky breath.

Jughead crossed his arms as he patiently waited.

So this was about a guy.

"…as my fiancé."

Jughead simply raised his eyebrows.

"But instead of asking me to marry him like I thought he was going to when he took me to _La Grenouille_ ," Betty continued, anger beginning to creep into her voice, "he instead told me that he had feelings for someone else. His assistant, in fact, who he swears he never slept with, but I suspect otherwise."

"Oh, shit." Jughead breathed, echoing her previous swear—shocked she hadn't uttered more given the situation.

"So now," She continued, "I get to go home to a week of my mother asking me why I'm single again and criticize me for not being able to 'close a deal' even though I'm a licensed attorney and never mind the deals I close in arbitration, the only ones that count are ones that get you a _ring_ , apparently!"

Betty sat there, suddenly out of words. Her cheeks had begun to tinge pink with frustration and Jughead couldn't remember a time in the two years she had been coming to his bar that he had seen her so upset. She was almost always upbeat—sometimes to an annoyingly superhuman degree—so to see her looking so unraveled despite looking so elegant in that dress…

Jughead who normally didn't mind that he was a man of few words, wished that he knew what the right thing to say in this moment was.

Instead, he picked up the bottle of wine and poured her another glass, grabbing another glass from behind the bar and pouring a little bit for himself.

Encouraged, Betty continued, "I just…don't know what to do. All my life I have had this…this _pressure_ from my parents to be their perfect little daughter and no matter what I do—4.0 GPA, graduating with honors from law school, landing a job in a prestigious firm in New York— _nothing_ is enough for them. Not unless I have a man on my arm while doing so.

"It's just so…so…" Betty sputtered, trying to vocalize a lifetime's worth of resentment.

"Sexist? Pejorative? Utter bullshit?" Jughead offered.

"Try all of the above." Betty groaned.

She looked up at him, considering, "Nice use of 'pejorative', by the way." Jughead smirked, "I see you also completed today's NYT crossword."

"Helps with the writers block." He explained, shrugging.

She smiled, sighing as she leaned back in her seat, "What am I supposed to do, Jug? It wasn't supposed to be this way…I don't think I can face my parents alone."

"I think you're supposed to go home, be there for your sister, and see your parents as little as possible." Jughead answered as he poured more wine for them both.

"I wish it was that easy." Betty chuckled, imagining that unlikely scenario.

She picked up her wine glass, giving Jughead an appreciative look as she took a sip.

Looking back on that moment, Jughead could pinpoint exactly when the idea popped into her head.

Her eyes widened as she looked at him, almost as if she was seeing him for the first time. It made Jughead uneasy.

"What?" He asked hesitantly.

Betty shook her head as if she was physically shaking the idea out of her mind, "Nothing. It's stupid—no crazy. It's crazy."

She was rambling. Another bad sign.

Jughead wasn't sure why he felt compelled to press her. Every instinct he had told him to leave it alone, but instead he found himself saying, "We're all a little crazy. Try me."

Betty looked up at him, unsure. If he hadn't just witnessed a mini-breakdown, Jughead would have thought she looked adorable.

"Well…" she started tentatively, "what are you doing this week?"

He frowned, as he sipped his wine, not sure where she was going with this.

"Up for a road trip?"

 **Author's Note: This is my first Riverdale fic, so please let me know what you think!**


	2. Chapter 2: The Pretext

Betty had been going to _Peripeteia_ since her first day in New York City almost two years ago.

Her anxiety had reached its limit after only a few hours of unpacking.

The fact that she had actually moved away from the clutches of her parents and she was truly on her own had started to sink in. She needed to blow off some steam, so she decided to explore her new neighborhood.

She walked several blocks and saw the bar's sign, finding the name ironically appropriate for her current circumstance and checked it out. It had been mid-afternoon on a Tuesday, so not a lot of other people were in the bar. She walked up to one of the open barstools and took a seat, patiently waiting for the bartender to appear from behind the bar. Upon hearing her movement, Jughead stood up from his crouched position where he had been restocking the white wine cooler.

She remembered thinking how odd it was that he was wearing a grey knit beanie in June, but it seemed to suit him and his otherwise 90's grunge appearance just fine.

He placed a cocktail napkin in front of her in greeting, "What can I get for you?"

"Do you have a Sauvignon Blanc?" She had asked.

He gave her an appraising look, "Yes."

"Where's it from?"

He then gave her an appreciative smile, "Marlborough."

She flashed him one of her trademark blinding smiles in return as she settled into her seat, "Perfect. I'll have a glass, please."

" _Please_?" He asked with a chuckle as he poured her wine, "New to New York City?"

"Is it that obvious?" She had asked, genuinely curious as to how he knew.

"Maybe consider dialing down the small town pep from eleven to a six or seven. I will give you points for your selection of wine, though." He added, gesturing at her glass, "Usually I just get 'red' or 'white' and I've lost the will to correct people."

"Well," Betty said, taking a small sip of her wine, "Those people are missing out."

"I'm Jughead." He said, giving her a grin.

"Betty."

And from there she frequented the bar—which she later learned Jughead owned—at least twice a week, sometimes with coworkers or friends, but usually just by herself. She enjoyed talking to Jughead, who seemed to have a knack for conversation and said only what needed to be said to keep the conversation going. He seemed to pick every one of his words carefully and she found that she increasingly looked forward to their interactions.

She considered him a friend even though she didn't know him outside of the bar. They ran into each other at their neighborhood Farmers' Market from time to time and once at their neighborhood bookstore, but that was about it.

Until this weekend, she didn't even have his number in her phone.

So when Betty found herself driving to Riverdale with Jughead in the passenger seat of her car reading a worn down copy of a book, she couldn't quite believe the series of events that had happened to get them here had _actually_ _happened_.

She'd told him that the idea was crazy as soon as she had thought it.

She wasn't thinking straight, her boyfriend of a year had just dropped a bombshell on her and she found herself in the unfortunate situation of facing her mother not only _not_ engaged, but without a boyfriend _period_.

She panicked and blurted out the first half-brained idea that had come into her mind.

Stunned that she'd even suggested such a thing, she was even more stunned when he said yes.

"But I have some conditions." Jughead had stated the previous night after agreeing to accompany Betty to her sister's wedding.

"Of course. Anything." Betty said, nodding vigorously.

Jughead gave her a wry look, "No public displays of affection beyond hand-holding. I have no qualms about lying to strangers that we're dating, but I will absolutely _not_ take advantage of a friend who has just had her heart broken."

"Done." Betty agreed, raising her hands in surrender, "I wouldn't want you to do anything more anyway. This is a weird request, we don't need to make it any weirder."

Her eyes widened as she realized what she had said and immediately tried to backpedal, "Not that, you know, doing anything beyond handholding with you would be awful, I'm sure you're great at…things…but it's just…"

Jughead laughed at her ramblings, "Easy there, Wine-o. I get what you mean."

He removed the now empty bottle of wine from the bar and put it in a box for recycling. He stood up and continued his list of conditions, "I get to pick the music any time we're in the car."

"Done." Betty nodded, her cheeks red from mortification.

"You're buying all of my drinks at your sister's wedding."

"Done."

And just like that, a deal had been struck.

She paid for her wine and jotted down her address on a bar napkin, but was still a little surprised when Jughead had shown up that morning with a large duffle bag slung over his shoulder. She'd half expected him to realize how insane this idea was and back out.

She wouldn't have even blamed him.

"We should probably get our story straight." Betty said, unable to take the silence in the car any longer.

While Jughead's taste in music proved to be quite good, she needed to say something—anything—to push back the nerves that were beginning to bubble up with every mile that brought them closer to to her home town. "My mother's going to ask you so many questions it will feel like an interrogation."

"Relax," Jughead stated, not even bothering to look up from his book, "I may be a humble bar owner by night, but by day, I'm a writer, remember? I can create characters and plot development in my sleep. Besides, I've known you for two years. Bartenders happen to be _very_ good listeners. This will be easy."

"Where'd we meet?" Betty asked, ignoring his nonchalance.

"At the bar." Jughead replied, turning to the next page in his book, "You had just moved to New York City that day. You came into the bar for a drink and we hit it off right away, though it took us over a year and a half of easy friendship to start dating."

"So we've been dating for 6 months?"

"Yep." Jughead stated, popping the 'p' at the end of the word, "Seems less suspicious for you bring someone you've been dating a significant amount of time than only a few weeks." He flipped another page, "Or fake dating for 36 hours."

"Where'd we go on our first date?" Betty fired back.

"The Farmers' Market. We then went back to my place where I cooked us breakfast with our purchases." He said, still not pulling his attention away from his book.

Betty looked at Jughead incredulously, unsure of how he was coming up with these answers—which were actually _really good_ —so quickly.

"Second date?"

"To an off Broadway play which wasn't terrible even if the plot was a bit heavy handed."

Betty gripped the steering wheel tighter, determined to trip him up, "First kiss?"

"After I walked you home from breakfast on our first date. On your front stoop because I am a gentleman."

"Who said 'I love you' first?"

"You did, on accident when I gave you a bottle of your favorite wine—Meiomi Pinot Noir, by the way—for our one month anniversary. I let it slide without comment because I knew how mortified you were, but you said it for real a week later after a particularly romantic night of catching up on our Netflix queue."

He set the book down on his lap and turned to face her, "I can do this all day."

Betty took in a frustrated breath, her competitive streak beginning to show, "Okay, my turn. Ask _me_ questions."

Jughead closed his book and smiled, smugly accepting her challenge, "What you get me for our one month anniversary?"

"A homemade gin kit."

He nodded his approval, "Not bad. Favorite date spot?"

"The Farmers' Market. We have yet to miss one since we've started dating. Until this weekend that is."

"Piggy backing off of my answer, but I'll allow it."

Betty gave an exasperated sigh as Jughead continued,"What'd we do last Valentine's Day?"

"Well, you were working that night, so I hung out at the bar with you once I got off of work and then surprised you by bringing in a projector that I had borrowed from work, setting up a private screening of Rear Window for us in the bar after you locked up for the night."

Jughead tilted his head, staring at her intently, "How'd you know that Rear Window is my favorite movie?"

Betty shrugged, "I overheard you talking about it with someone at the bar once. Besides, the short story that was published in the _NYC Belles-Lettres_ was basically an homage to it."

When Jughead didn't immediately respond, she looked at him and raised an eyebrow, "What? You think that bartenders are the only people who are good listeners?"

"Touché." He laughed, pausing for a moment before continuing his line of questioning, "Who asked who out first."

"I did." Betty smiled, "It's technically true."

Jughead grinned, "Ah, yes. The old hiding the lie in the truth technique."

"When lies get too complicated, it's easier for you to trip up." Betty commented.

"Noted."

Their conversation dropped off into a comfortable silence for a few moments as they drove and the "Welcome to Riverdale!" sign came all too soon for Betty's liking.

It seemed like only a matter of minutes before she found herself standing next to Jughead on the front stoop of her childhood home, hand paused in mid-air as she debated about whether or not she should knock on the front door.

Jughead noticed her unease and gave her a concerned nudge, "You okay?"

"This was a bad idea." She sighed, slowly lowering her hand.

"It'll be fine." He leaned in to whisper.

"My family is crazy, Jug." Betty stated, shaking her head, "I shouldn't have dragged you into this."

"Well," Jughead sighed, draping an arm around her shoulder as he reached out with the hand holding his duffle, pushing on the doorbell, "It's too late now."

Betty looked up at him, an accusatory look on her face as Jughead just shrugged, "Someone had to do it."

The front door swung open and a woman who shared the same hair and eyes as the blonde in Jughead's embrace filled the doorway, "Betty! You're here!"

"Pol!" Betty squealed, all hesitation seemingly forgotten as she rushed towards her sister, "You're getting _married_!"

"I know!" The woman who was undoubtably Betty's older sister Polly exclaimed, enveloping her younger sibling in a hug.

They stood there in the doorway for a few moments, hugging one another and saying a string of nonsensical sentence fragments to one another.

Jughead watched this exchange in fascination. When Betty had given him a crash course in her family earlier, he knew that Polly was only one year older, but they acted more like twins rather than the typical older/younger sibling dynamic.

Almost as if she sensed his gaze, Polly looked over at him and tilted her head,"Who's this? You don't look like Chuck."

Jughead took a step forward, extending his hand, "Jughead Jones."

Polly's eyes widened in recognition as she shook his hand, "You're the bartender Betty talks about!"

Jughead turned to give Betty—whose cheeks had begun to tinge pink—an amused look, "I see my reputation precedes me."

"Well, it's nice to _finally_ meet you." Polly greeted, giving him a warm smile, "The last time Betts called she just went on and on about you—"

"Okay!" Betty interrupted, budging herself herself into the main foyer, "Well, let's just get inside here…"

Polly grinned at her sister's embarrassment, "You two will be staying in your old room, Betts. Dad, Chic, and Jason are doing their final tux fittings and Mom is at the grocery store, so the Inquisition won't start quite yet." Polly joked, giving Jughead a wink.

"Pol!" Betty protested.

Polly simply rolled her eyes, "Okay, okay. I'll leave you two to get settled."

Jughead followed Betty up the stairs as Polly headed in the opposite direction. He managed to wait until they were both in Betty's childhood room with the door shut behind him before he turned to face her, smug expression on his face.

"So you just went 'on and on' about me, huh?"

Betty groaned as she hoisted her suitcase onto her bed, "It was several weeks ago. We'd just gotten in that discussion about the new David Grann book."

"Ah, yes." Jughead agreed, recalling the conversation, "That was a particularly good debate"

He gave her a smug smile as he set his duffle bag down and took in his surroundings.

"I see where your affinity for pink comes from."

Betty looked up from her nearly methodical unpacking and smiled, "It's a classic color, what can I say?"

Jughead offered her a small smile in return. He was _fascinated_ by the contrast in her room.

Ornate pink floral wallpaper adorned the walls but was covered—for the most part—by band posters and artwork that Betty must have accumulated over the years as she got older. She had a dainty white vanity and antique looking mirror along the wall that had dozens of Polaroid photos stuck along the edges. An electric candelabra in the corner had Marci Gras beads draped over the metal prongs.

Every overtly 'girly' thing that—Jughead assumed—had been picked out by her parents was given an edge with Betty's personal touches. Her own little rebellion against the perfection her parents seems to demand from her.

Even Betty's bed had been a part of the resistance with a worn fleece blanket featuring a stunningly out of place cartoon turtle pattern folded at the bottom of the four poster bed, resting on top of the otherwise dainty quilt.

 _The_ _bed_.

"Well." Jughead coughed awkwardly, "I'll be taking the floor then."

Betty turned to face him, "Jughead, no. There is no way I am letting you sleep on the floor after you agreed to do this very insane thing thing for me."

"Well, there is no way that I am letting you sleep on the floor of your childhood bedroom." He retorted, gesturing around himself.

Betty just crossed her arms and gave him a pointed look.

"What? Are you actually suggesting that—"

She raised her eyebrows, "I am pretty sure that two people have slept in the same bed platonically in the history of all humanity."

Jughead rolled his eyes, aware of how prudish he had sounded, "Of course they have, but—"

"As long as you're not a complete covers hog, I think we'll be fine." She stated flatly, turning back to her suitcase, "We're both adults here, Jug." She said taking a glance over her shoulder, "Besides…my mom…kind of doesn't have a sense of personal boundaries and tends to barge into rooms without knocking."

Taking her cue, Jughead picked up his duffle and placed it on the bed, "Seriously?"

"Might ruin the illusion if one of us is nested up on the floor." She nodded at his duffle and jutted her chin over at the white dresser that had been covered with a myriad of words and quotes in Sharpe. Something Jughead made a mental note to investigate later, "You can put your stuff in the top drawer. It should be empty."

"Your mother seriously just barges into your room?" He asked taking out his folded clothing, heading to the dresser, "Even when she knows that you'll be having…a gentleman friend staying with you?"

Betty scoffed, "Gentleman friend. Regular friend. Studying for the SATs. 4:00 am and asleep…"

They both fell into easy laughter, going about their own tasks of getting settled in the space.

"Why have we never done this before?" Betty asked, suddenly pausing her movements.

"What?" Jughead asked, leaning against the dresser, nodding over at the bed, "Platonically share a bed?"

Betty picked up one of her overly frilly throw pillows and lazily threw it at him, "No. Hung out outside of _Peripeteia_ before."

Jughead paused, "Considering that you work an 8-5 and my hours are less…traditional—"

Betty gave him another look, "We've known each other for almost _two_ _years,_ Jug. We should have been able to find time."

"I know." He conceded, "And to answer your question, I don't know."

"Well, when this week is over we should hang out." She offered, "Perhaps on the same side of a bar for once."

Jughead smiled, "I'd like that."

The both stood there smiling at the prospect of their friendship expanding in New York City when the sound of doors slamming shut and multiple voices talking at once came from downstairs.

Betty took in a deep breath, glancing at her bedroom door, "Well…you ready?"

Jughead simply gave her a grin, "Let's go."

* * *

 **Author's Note: Holy cow, your responses have been amazing! Thank you so much for all of the reviews, favorites, and follows! Next chapter...Jughead meets the rest of the family.**


	3. Chapter 3: The Coopers

Jughead followed Betty back through the second story hallway and down the stairs, the sounds of several people talking at once growing louder with each step.

He'd gone through the motions of meeting the families of several of his previous girlfriends, so he was no stranger to situations like the one he was walking into. Unlike the other situations, however, this time he was actually nervous.

He wasn't sure if it was because he had been told—at length—that her parents would verbally put him over the rack or if it was because he would be essentially lying through his teeth to innocent bystanders the entire week. He suddenly found himself unsure as he stepped onto the main floor and followed Betty into the kitchen.

Three men had entered the home, each of them carrying a garment bag. The man who was clearly Betty's father had seen them and moved to give his daughter a one armed hug, his other hand trying to keep his suit from getting wrinkled.

The man who was about a head taller than them both, sharing both Betty and Polly's blonde hair, bluish-hazel eyes, and million dollar smile—who Jughead presumed was Betty's older brother Chic—had no such qualms.

"Betts!" He yelled, tossing his garment bag over one of the chairs around the dining table before he enveloped his youngest sister in what could only be described as a bear hug.

"Chic!" Betty exclaimed, as her feet left the ground.

Jughead couldn't help himself, smiling as he took in the scene. He'd never seen Betty so carefree than in that moment. Sure he would joke around with her in the bar and their five hour long car ride to Riverdale had its lighthearted moments, but the blonde woman in front of him—who had helped bring down one of New York City's corrupt politicians a month prior—was being flung around like a rag doll by a brother who clearly hadn't seen her in awhile.

The whole situation was surreal.

"Chic, your suit!" Polly chided, picking the garment bag up and moving to hang it in the hall closet.

"That's what an iron is for, Pol." He stated, setting Betty down, "It's not every day our high powered lawyer of a sister returns home."

Betty rolled her eyes at the title and gave her brother a half hearted swat, "I was here for Christmas."

"Yeah," Chic agreed, "Christmas Day. You left promptly at 8 am on the 26th."

"But we had fun!" Betty protested, " _Efficient_ fun, but fun nonetheless."

"Yeah, yeah, yeah." Chic muttered as he flung his arm around her shoulders, turning her so that they faced Jughead, "Who do we have here?"

"This is Jughead." Betty said, smiling as she gestured for him to fully come into the kitchen.

Chic raised his eyebrows, "No Chuck? Good. I hated that guy."

Betty elbowed her older brother as Jughead moved in to shake Chic's free hand.

"I'm not that big a fan of him either." Jughead stated, shooting Betty a wry look.

"Oh, I like this one." Chic chuckled as he shook Jughead's hand.

Betty just rolled her eyes as she moved to make introductions, "Jughead, this is my brother Chic. My father, Hal Cooper."

"Mr. Cooper." Jughead greeted, moving to shake the patriarch's hand.

"And this is Jason," Betty said, motioning towards the red head who had been silently observing the entire exchange with amusement from other side of the room, "My soon to be brother in law."

"Congratulations." Jughead offered, giving the red head a nod.

"Thanks." Jason smiled, wrapping an arm around Polly, who had come back to the kitchen after saving Chic's tux.

Their momentary pause was quickly interrupted by someone else bursting through the doors that led from the garage to the kitchen.

"A little help, please!" A woman called from the doorway.

Betty's father and Jason quickly rushed over to take some of the grocery bags that the woman was carrying, and Jughead got his first look at the person Betty had been so nervous about him meeting.

Alice Cooper was surprisingly petite, but everything about her appearance screamed that she was the primary authority in the family. There was something unnerving about how precisely pressed her sweater set was and the way her hair was perfectly styled. She raised an expertly shaped eyebrow as she noticed Jughead, an action that didn't go unnoticed by Betty.

To his credit, Jughead met her gaze squarely, but Betty needed to make sure that this first introduction went smoothly.

She ducked out from under Chic's arm and moved over to Jughead, reassuringly holding on to his arm. Whether or not she was trying to comfort Jughead or herself was unclear.

"Mom." Betty started, "This is Jughead."

Alice stood there in silence, giving Jughead an uncomfortably scrutinizing once over. Betty had been secretly pleased when Jughead had showed up at her apartment in black jeans and a nice dark crimson dress shirt. Sure he had rolled the sleeves up to his elbows and he was wearing his trademark grey beanie, but Betty wasn't sure how she would have explained the normal flannel and baggy suspenders look to her mother. It had been drilled into her since she was a child that you 'never got a second chance to make a good first impression,' so she had been relieved when she had seen him standing there on her front stoop looking the part of the gentleman he had proudly proclaimed he was during their car ride into town.

Unable to find fault with Jughead's appearance, Alice turned her attention to Betty, "Couldn't keep a hold of Chuck then?"

Betty's body tensed. Of course.

Before she could put together what would have undoubtedly been a meager response, Jughead cleared his throat, "Actually, Chuck couldn't keep a hold of _her_."

Betty stared up at Jughead in shock as everything in the kitchen seemed to stop. Hal and Jason had set their grocery bags on the counter and had paused in their tasks of putting things away. Polly and Chic were practically biting their lips to keep from bursting into laughter at Jughead's show of cheek. Jughead just kept his gaze on her mother, his expression perfectly neutral.

Alice looked back at Jughead, reconsidering him, "Exactly." She stated with sudden cheer.

It was almost like a switch had been flipped, Jughead thought. Seconds ago, she had been cold and calculating, but then she suddenly transformed into the bubbly small town mother her sweater set suggested she was.

She briskly walked over to the pair, her arms outstretched to give her youngest daughter a hug, "It's Chuck's loss."

Betty looked up to Jughead for help as she was practically crushed by her mother's small, but definitely strong arms.

"Jughead Jones." He said, sticking out a hand.

Alice let her daughter go and shook his outstretched hand, "Alice Cooper."

She turned and looked around the room, noticing that everyone was still practically frozen in their spots. She raised her hands up in exasperation, "The groceries aren't going to put themselves away. Polly, help me get dinner started."

And just like that, the kitchen was bustling with activity.

Chic rushed forward and placed a hand on both Betty and Jughead's shoulder, gently pushing them towards the front door.

"Quick, before she thinks of things for us to do." He whispered.

He raised his voice and glanced over his shoulder, "Hey, we're headed out for a bit. Promised Betty that I would…" he trailed off muttering muffled nonsensical words as they made it out the front door before Alice could get a word in.

Jughead gave Chic an appreciative look before he focused on Betty who had gone uncharacteristically silent.

"You okay?" He asked, concerned.

Betty glanced over at him, almost startled at his voice, "Yeah…I'm fine. I'm just…remembering why I don't come home very much."

Chic let the two go, motioning for them to get into the blue Toyota Prius that had been parked in the driveway.

Jughead knew that she wasn't being entirely truthful. That Chuck comment had to have cut deep, especially with how things had ended. Jughead was shocked that Betty's mother had even said it despite all of the warnings he had been given. Sure, Jughead's family had their own issues, but his parents had never been intentionally mean to him. They just…had their own problems to deal with.

He made a note to check in with Betty about it later, when they were alone.

Jughead hopped into the back seat of the car, as Betty got into the front passenger's side.

"So where are we headed?" Jughead asked, as Chic swiftly pulled out of the driveway.

"Pop's." Betty and Chic replied in unison, grinning at each other.

"Pop's?" Jughead asked.

"It's only the best diner in town." Betty replied, looking back at him in the backseat.

"It's the _only_ diner in town." Chic retorted, glancing up in his rear view mirror.

Jughead just looked at Betty.

"Aren't we about to have dinner?" He asked, jutting a thumb backwards towards the Cooper residence.

"Yes." Betty agreed as if this was the most normal thing in the world, "But we're having a pre-dinner milkshakes."

"Besides," Chic interjected, "You survived your first encounter with Mommy Dearest and came out without a scratch. If anyone deserves a milkshake from Pop's, it's you."

"Won't your sister be mad that we didn't even invite her?" Jughead asked, settling back into his seat.

"It's a Cooper Family Gathering." Chic explained, "She knows the rules. It's every man for themselves."

Jughead chuckled to himself as he watched the neighborhood pass by. It was pretty much as he imagined it. Cookie cutter two story houses with sizable yards enclosed by white picket fences.

He idly wondered if all of the neighborhood's houses contained the level of familial disfunction as the Coopers' did.

It'd certainly make for a good short story.

He perked up at the idea and started to stare out of the car window more intently, trying to commit as much detail to memory as possible while Betty and Chic had idol conversation in the front seats.

Within a matter of moments, they pulled into the parking lot of a throwback 50's diner, blazing neon sign and all.

"You guys weren't kidding about getting milkshakes." Jughead said.

Betty turned in her seat to look at Jughead as she unbuckled her seatbelt, her face the picture of seriousness, "We _never_ joke about Pop's milkshakes, Jug."

Her somber expression broke into a grin which Jughead returned.

"Come on you two." Chic called, already out of the car, "We can only tempt fate for so long. We have about an hour before a search party is sent after us."

Betty and Jughead got out of the car and followed Chic inside where they were greeted by the old but very enthusiastic diner owner.

"Betty Cooper back in Riverdale?" Pop Tate exclaimed, "This is cause for celebration! Round of milkshakes on the house."

"Are you sure we're still in 2017?" Jughead muttered as he looked around at the nostalgia diner.

Betty gave him a gentle nudge in the ribs with her elbow as she professed her thanks to the diner's owner, quickly introducing Jughead before following her brother to a booth.

Chic grinned at Jughead's expression as he and Betty scooted into the opposite side of the booth, "So what do you think?"

Jughead was at loss for words, "I had no idea that places like this still existed." He turned to look at Betty, "Now I get why you had so much pep when you first came into my bar. Everyone here is…disturbingly perky."

"Betty with too much pep? Hard to believe." Chic teased, throwing a bunched up napkin at his younger sister who simply rolled her eyes.

"Oh, ha ha." She shot back, "Very funny."

Jughead smiled as he stretched his arm across the back of the booth, effectively placing said arm around the blonde.

It was time to start selling this charade, Jughead thought, and in his past experience, older brothers were the toughest critics.

The movement did not go unnoticed by Chic, but before he could comment, the milkshakes arrived. Betty instantly snatched the strawberry milkshake while Chic grabbed the vanilla, leaving the chocolate milkshake for Jughead.

"Hope you like chocolate." Betty stated apologetically, realizing her bad manners for not asking which one he would like.

"Are you kidding?" Jughead replied, reaching to grab his milkshake with his free hand, "This worked out exactly as I hoped."

The three enjoyed their shakes in silence before Chic pushed his half empty glass to the side and looked at the two, "Okay you two. Spill. I'm tired of learning everything second hand from Polly. When did this start?" He asked gesturing at them, "And how did you finally get rid of Chuck 'Yes-I-Went-To-THE-Harvard-Business-School' Clayton?"

Jughead chuckled despite feeling Betty sink into him, uncomfortable with the change in topic.

He took this as his cue to start.

"Well, this started about six months ago." Jughead answered, "When Betty walked into the bar one night after having broken up with Chuck—who, I just want state for the record, was an idiot to let her go. I told Betty as much that night. Repeatedly. She basically yelled at me…oh, how did you phrase it?"

Jughead looked at Betty, hoping that she would pick up on the softball he had just lobbed her.

She did and she swung for the fences.

"'If you don't just ask me out already, you'll be just as much of an idiot if not a bigger one.'" She supplied with a grin.

"Ah, yes." Jughead sighed in mock remembrance, "So eloquent."

Betty laughed, playing into the story he was weaving, "Well, it was getting frustrating. I wanted to close my tab and go to bed, but you were taking forever to ask me out on a date, so I just had to…hurry things along. You're welcome, by the way."

Chic chuckled, nodding, "Yeah…do not get between this one and her eight hours of sleep. She can get down right mean when she's overtired."

"Like you're one to talk." Betty fired back, trying to resist the urge to smile, "Besides, why is my relationship getting all of the scrutiny? Where's Lisa?"

"She could only get half of the week off, so she'll be coming into town on Wednesday night." Chic answered, pulling his shake back towards him, "You'll be able to give me all the grief you want then."

Betty settled back down in the booth, smirking.

"But until that time…." Chic started, looking at his sister mischievously.

He continued asking questions, but they weren't probing in the least. He asked about Jughead's bar, about his writing, if he had any funny drunk Betty stories (he didn't), and generally what their lives were like back in New York City.

Jughead quickly got the feeling that Chic was going to be a solid ally.

An hour quickly passed and the trio headed back to the Cooper household for dinner.

Polly instantly jumped on them, muttering about how it was her wedding week and how dare they leave without her. As punishment, the three of them were to set the table.

Jughead had grown up as the older sibling, being several years older than his younger sister, so it was a very surreal experience to be ordered about by Polly and to a lesser extent Chic who quickly assumed the managerial role in setting the table.

Betty kept shooting him encouraging looks, which he took as a good sign. He was being treated no differently than Jason—who was currently scrubbing some of the pots and pans that had been used during the cooking process—which meant that the ruse was working.

Once the table was set and everyone was seated, the interrogation that both Betty and Polly alluded to finally arrived.

"So," Alice Cooper began, cutting into her pork chop, "I hear you're a bartender. Must be hard to live on a bartender's wages in such an expensive city like New York."

Jughead paused a little, a little shocked at her forwardness. He had known that Betty's parents were tough to deal with—even caught a glimpse of it earlier that afternoon—but at some point he thought that some of it had to be an over exaggeration.

"Mom!" Betty exclaimed, horrified.

Apparently Jughead was wrong.

"Actually," he started, resting a hand on Betty's arm. A silent signal to let him handle this, "I own the bar and ever since we were featured in the New York Times business has been extremely good, so I live quite comfortably. The bartending I do for fun."

"Aren't you a little young to be a business owner?" Alice continued, without skipping a beat.

Betty shot her mother a look and Alice quickly amended, "I mean, it's quite the accomplishment. Getting the capital to start your own business in this economy."

Jughead simply shrugged, "I started as a dishwasher when I was 14, became a bartender when I was 18 and lied about my age to my employer. Despite what you may think, bartending can be pretty lucrative. Tips add up quickly, so I had quite the little nest egg built up when I thought seriously about starting my own business."

"Jughead's also a writer." Betty added, not wanting all of Jughead's accomplishments to unsaid.

"A writer?" Alice repeated, sounding almost amused, "Anything I've read?"

"I am a freelance writer for _The New Yorker, McSweeny's_ , and have had some short stories published here and there." Jughead stated nonchalantly, determined to beat this woman at her own game.

"Well aren't you just a Renaissance man?" Alice smiled, turning her attention back to her meal.

"It's nice to have diversified interests." He stated neutrally, refusing to rise to the bait. Instead, he opted to turn the conversation back towards her, "Betty tells me that you and Mr. Cooper run the town paper..."

The rest of the dinner finished in relative ease with Alice talking the majority of the time about her most recent scoops and the latest town gossip. Once dinner was over, Jughead helped Betty with the dishes before the two settled in the living room watching television with Chic, Jason, and Polly.

Midnight rolled around and Betty sleepily trudged upstairs with Jughead behind her.

Betty elected to get changed for bed in the bathroom across the hall and Jughead had changed into sweats and a t-shirt. He was just settling in under the covers when Betty walked into the room and gave him an apologetic smile.

"There's still time for you to back out, you know." She sighed as she got into the bed.

"And leave you to the wolves alone?" Jughead asked, his voice a little teasing.

Betty gave a halfhearted chuckle and Jughead's expression turned serious.

"Hey." He stated, giving her a gentle nudge, "You're an incredible person, you know that right? You're the only one who can define your self worth. Not Chuck, not your father, certainly not your mother…"

"I know." She sighed, settling down into the bed, "I know who I am in New York City…I am proud of who I am in New York City…but being back here…it's like I'm 16 again. I hate it." She looked up at him, "Thank you for being here."

Jughead smiled down at her, "No problem."

They laid there in silence for a moment before Jughead spoke, "Can I add another condition to my being here?"

Betty turned to look at him, questioning.

"One milkshake every day for the rest of the time we're here."

Betty laughed, "Deal."

* * *

 **Author's Note: This chapter quickly got out of hand length wise, but I hope you enjoyed it! Thanks again for all of the wonderful reviews, favorites, and follows!**


	4. Chapter 4: The Next Day

For a split second when Jughead woke up, he had no idea where he was.

The room was absurdly bright, the semi sheer pink curtains doing nothing to keep back the early morning rays of sunshine. As he rapidly blinked to try to adjust his vision, there was movement in the bed next to him.

He immediately froze before it all started coming back to him. He was in Betty Cooper's childhood room in Riverdale, about to start the first full day of her insane plan that was pretty much ripped from a cheesy early 2000's rom-com.

He slowly sat up and looked around the room, unsure of what to do next.

Once he woke up, he was _up_ for the day, but it didn't sound like anyone else in the house was awake—not that he would venture out on his own, lest he found Alice ready to pounce on him over morning coffee.

So Jughead decided to lean over the edge of his side of the bed and root around in his duffle until he found his book. He had only gotten a chapter and a half in before Betty began to stir.

"You're up already?" She asked groggily, slowly stretching out her limbs.

Jughead looked down at her, "Well, you don't exactly have blackout shades in your East facing bedroom…"

Betty groaned and slowly sat up, "I'm sorry."

"Why should you be sorry?" Jughead asked not looking up from his book, "The story's starting to get interesting."

"Oh yeah?" She asked, leaning over to get a good look at the novel's cover, "What's it about?"

"A bunch of high school kids are trying to solve the murder of the town's star quarterback." He muttered.

"Sounds a little far-fetched." She commented, leaning back and trying to get a look at the page Jughead was reading.

"You don't know the half of it." Jughead stated, flipping the page.

He suddenly sensed that his space was being invaded and looked over at the blonde who was slowly inching towards him, careening her neck to get a better look at the book he held in his hands.

"Did no one ever tell you it is rude to read over someone's shoulder?" He asked, trying to lean away.

Betty kept scootching closer, squinting so she could focus on the words, "Wait, what is happening? A car-full of evidence is _on fire_?!"

"Get your own book, you weirdo." He laughed, lifting the book high above his head.

"Like _you're_ the one to talk! Besides, you've peaked my interest. Let me see the book." She pleaded with a smile, shifting to better reach.

"You can read it when I'm done." Jughead half heartedly scolded, lifting the book higher

"You're being so—" Betty started, straining to reach the book, "How are your arms so long?!"

She shifted so that she was kneeling, laughing as she still barely managed to grace her finger tips on the book's cover.

Jughead opened his mouth to say something back when the door to Betty's room suddenly flew open.

Startled, Betty collapsed rather ungracefully on top of Jughead's lap right as her mother swooped in.

"Alright you two, wake up!" Alice exclaimed upon entering. She glanced over at the bed and saw that the two were not only up, but in a fairly compromised position.

Jughead and Betty froze.

"Right. Well…" Alice recovered, awkwardly turning to leave the room, "I'll see both of you downstairs. Breakfast is in fifteen minutes."

Neither Jughead or Betty moved after the door shut.

They were silent for a moment before Jughead spoke, "She really _does_ just burst into your room."

Betty turned to her side and just looked up at him, "Told you."

Jughead looked down at Betty for a moment before answering her. He really hadn't noticed last night, but Betty's pajamas consisted of a relatively tight tank top and shorts that—during the previous shuffle—had ridden up pretty high. On some level, Jughead knew that Betty was in shape just as he knew she was good looking, but he'd only previously seen her in tailored suits, cardigans, and modestly long skirts.

To his mortification, he could feel his face heat up as he took in her toned bare arms and lean legs. The fact that she was still technically on top of him didn't help. It was morning and his body's reactions to current circumstances were beyond his control. Before anything became too obvious, Polly burst through the door causing Betty quickly move into a sitting position next to Jughead and for Jughead to shift under the covers to conceal anything incriminating.

"Does _no one_ knock in this house?" Jughead asked, sighing in frustrated relief.

Polly shot him a look, "We have a lot to do today before my wedding shower this afternoon and you two need to get up _now_ and help me run interference with Mom and Dad before I pull all of my hair out. Jason tries, but he can only do so much."

"Yep. We'll be down in a few, Pol." Betty agreed, nodding her head. Anything to get her sister out of there as soon as humanly possible, "Just…give us a few, okay?"

Polly rolled her eyes, "Ugh, fine. Hurry up and finish _whatever_ it was you two were doing and do try to be quick. We're on a tight schedule."

Jughead just stared at the door in shock, while Betty hung her head in her hands, her fingertips massaging her temples.

"Last chance to get out of this." Betty muttered, unable to look at Jughead.

He turned to look at her and his expression softened.

As weird and embarrassing as the last two minutes were for him, he couldn't imagine what it was like for Betty. Her cheeks were so red they looked sunburnt and based on how furiously she was rubbing her temples, he knew a stress headache was well on its way.

He gave her a gentle nudge.

"No man left behind."

* * *

Compared to the previous night's dinner, breakfast was a breeze.

The main focus was divvying up the tasks that needed to be completed before Polly and Jason's wedding shower later that afternoon. Jughead took his cues from Betty who simply kept quiet as she was assigned duties and errands to run, which was how after a rather robust breakfast of pancakes, he found himself alongside Betty at the supermarket staring at fresh produce with near laser focus.

"I might be mistaken, but I don't think anyone has ever died from eating a slightly overripe watermelon." Jughead remarked, shoving his hands into his pockets as he stood next to the blonde.

Betty rolled her eyes, "The watermelon is crucial, Jug."

His eyebrows shot up, "Is that so?"

"Yes." Betty nodded, taking a step forward as she leaned down, listening as she slowly started to knock on various melons.

Jughead watched her with thinly veiled amusement, "How is a _watermelon_ crucial to wedding shower?"

"Polly wants the watermelon to be hollowed out and cut in half to create a bowl for the fruit salad. The watermelon needs to be both ripe on the inside and aesthetically pleasing on the outside."

Jughead rocked on his feet, "Why do I feel like that is one of those Pinterest things that looks good in a professional photo, but is more trouble than it's worth in reality."

Betty paused mid-knock, "Polly…may have gotten the idea from Pinterest, yes."

Jughead smirked.

" _But_ I've seen it done before and it _does_ look nice." Betty quickly added, "Besides, it's what Polly wants and this is her week, so stop smirking and help me find the perfect one!"

Jughead calmly took a step forward and tapped on a melon that Betty hadn't previously considered, "This one."

Betty looked from him to the fruit and then gave it a gentle knock with her fist. Her eyes widened as she looked up at Jughead, "How did you—"

"It's my super power."

Betty laughed as she picked the chosen fruit up and gently placed it in the cart, "Jughead Jones, Produce Connoisseur."

Jughead grinned as he took control of the cart and started pushing it forward, "I prefer the term 'aficionado.'"

Betty's smile grew bigger as she watched him walk ahead with the cart, "So does this talent extend to cantaloupe and honeydew as well?"

He opened his mouth to answer when he heard a loud high-pitched squeal.

Before Jughead could pinpoint where the noise had come from, a short black-haired blur zoomed past him and crashed into Betty.

"Betty Cooper as I live and breathe!" The shorter woman exclaimed, throwing her arms around the blonde.

Everything about the other woman suggested poise and polish—the black pencil skirt, purple silk blouse, pearl necklace—but she was greeting Betty as though they were a couple of overly excited high school friends reuniting after summer break. Jughead had seen his fair share of animated reunions at _Peripeteia_ , but in the middle of a grocery store? That was new.

"Veronica!" Betty exclaimed, laughing as she tried to regain her balance.

"God, look at you!" Veronica said, pulling back and giving her friend a once over, "New York City looks good on you, B."

Betty rolled her eyes and threw her arm around Veronica, positioning her to face Jughead so that an introduction could be made.

Before Betty could even say anything, Veronica's eyes widened with shock, but she quickly composed herself, a mischievous gleam in her eyes.

"And who is this handsome Holden Caulfield?" She asked, arching an eyebrow as she blatantly scrutinized the man in front of her.

Jughead stood there feeling somewhat self-conscious as Veronica appraised him. He'd opted for black skinny jeans again and a button up long-sleeved denim shirt of which he'd rolled the sleeves. When her gaze stopped on his beanie, she grinned.

He was unsure if this was a good or bad sign.

"Let me guess…" She stated, pretending to be mulling something over, "You're a brooding Brooklyn writer?"

The corners of Jughead's lips twitched as he gave her a wry look, "Manhattan bar owner and part-time novelist."

Veronica snapped her fingers as if she'd just had an epiphany, "Of course! How could I have confused the two?"

He chuckled as he stuck his hand out, "Jughead Jones."

She placed her hand daintily in his, "Veronica Lodge. Former Manhattan socialite and Betty's best friend."

Jughead nodded in understanding and gave Betty an amused look. Betty was looking at her friend, grinning from ear to ear and he was once again struck with how different Betty looked in this moment than how he was used to seeing her in New York City.

It was a good different, he decided.

"As much as I would love to catch up with you in the middle of the produce aisle…" Betty began, but trailed off when Veronica held up her hands.

"I know, I know. Polly will make heads roll if you are even so much as one minute behind on what is undoubtedly an already impossible timeline." She stated matter-of-factory.

Betty nodded, "See you at the shower?"

Veronica smiled, "We'll get all caught up then."

She looked over at Jughead and her otherwise innocent smile took a more mischievous turn, "And I mean _all_ caught up."

With one last wave, Veronica walked off leaving Betty and Jughead standing there in silence.

"She seems…" Jughead started, trying to search for the right word, "…energetic."

Betty snorted, "That's one way of putting it."

She turned to face Jughead, giving him a considering look, "I think you'll really get along with her boyfriend, Archie. We used to live next door to each other and he'll be one of the only other guys in attendance at the shower."

"Then I am sure we'll become fast friends." Jughead joked. He hadn't really put much thought into his role at the shower, but knowing that there would be another friendly—and male—face there other than Chic was somewhat comforting.

"Right." He stated, clearing his throat, "On to the cantaloupe and honeydew."

* * *

Fifteen bags of groceries and one obligatory milkshake later, Jughead and Betty returned to the Cooper's house to start prepping for the shower.

Betty had taken charge of the fruit salad—with only minor teasing from Jughead as she painstakingly cut a zigzag pattern into the top of the hollowed watermelon half—and Jughead took it upon himself to mix together the large batches of the various punches Polly wanted to have served. He even went as far as making strawberry roses placed on the rims of the glassware set next to the white sangria and perfect lemon peel twists lightly dusted with sugar placed in a garnish bowl next to the pink lemonade.

Betty raised her eyebrows at him, silently giving him grief about the Pinterest remarks from earlier.

Jughead just shrugged, "Nothing short of perfection, right?"

The shower started on time and the two of them hung back as guests arrived, performing small tasks as needed. Soon enough, Veronica arrived on the arm of a red haired man that Jughead deemed to be the textbook definition of small town charm.

"Betty!" The man greeted, stepping away from Veronica and pulling the blonde into a gentle hug, "It's been far too long."

"I know!" Betty agreed, resting her chin on his shoulder, "I _really_ need to get better about setting aside more time to visit."

"Or…" Veronica started, mischief back in her eyes, "…we can come up and visit. I miss the sounds of the city. Besides, I just found out about Manhattan's _hottest_ new bar. It's supposed to be all the rage."

It took all of Jughead's will power not to roll his eyes at her not-so-subtle teasing.

Luckily, Betty did it for him, "Very funny, Ronnie. But, yes, you two are long over due for a visit."

"Agreed." The man said as he pulled away from Betty and took a step towards Jughead, "Hi, I'm Archie Andrews."

"Jughead Jones."

The two shook hands and made easy conversation about what they did for a living—Jughead explaining Veronica's earlier barb, Archie going in depth about the trials of teaching high school music as well as being the school's football coach—while Veronica pulled Betty to the side.

"Oh my god, Betty. Good job!" Veronica exclaimed, nodding over at Jughead.

Betty opened her mouth to protest, but her friend continued.

"I'm serious. You always go for the guy who is completely wrong for you and this time you actually found a winner."

Betty rolled her eyes again, "You've only known him for what…a collective five minutes? Besides, what do you mean I _always_ go for the wrong guy? Chuck was nice—well until the end there—and he was also a lawyer…"

Veronica gave Betty an exasperated look, "He was _boring_ and he made you boring. Sure he looked good on paper, but you don't need someone with a good resume. You need someone who compliments you as much as he challenges you. Jughead is different from all the other guys…" Veronica turned to look back at the two men, "Your relationship with him is different."

Betty tilted her head, unsure of what to say.

Of _course_ her and Jughead's relationship was different. It was fake. She wasn't trying to impress him—in fact, she never had. They were friends, so of course they interacted differently with one another.

That had to be what Veronica was picking up on.

"You're right." Betty agreed, stepping with trepidation. Veronica's bullshit meter was the stuff of legends and she would sense a lie before it even crossed Betty's lips, "We were friends first. He was actually the first person I met in New York City the day I moved."

"I'm a firm believer that being friends first is the best way to go. That's how Archie and I started out back in the good old days and look at us now…" Veronica turned back to Betty, "Though I hope yours doesn't take a _decade_ to propose to you."

Betty's jaw dropped at the flash of the diamonds that adorned Veronica's left ring finger, "Oh my god, Veronica!"

"Shh!" Veronica laughed, "Polly will kill me if her thunder is stolen, but yes…he _finally_ popped the question."

"Cat's out of the bag, I see." Archie chuckled as he and Jughead approached the two women, beverages in hand.

"Congratulations!" Betty exclaimed, trying her best not to draw too much attention to the small group as Polly sashayed through the crowd, greeting guests, "Took you long enough."

"So I've been told." Arched laughed as Betty hugged him again.

Jughead handed Betty a glass of sangria and Archie did the same with Veronica.

Betty slowly sipped her drink, closing her eyes for a second as she appreciated another one of Jughead's alcoholic masterpieces. Veronica took a sip, her eyes widening in surprise.

"Did you make this?" she asked turning to Jughead.

"It's a recipe I'm testing out." He answered humbly, taking a sip from his bottle of beer.

"Well, I can't come visit you two in New York City fast enough."

Betty laughed a little, but a small pang of guilt hit her at her friend's statement. Once they returned to New York City, the ruse would be over and it'd become clear that she and Jughead were not dating. She made a mental note for her and Jughead to discuss their breakup story later.

After a few more moments of talking with Archie and Veronica, Betty decided that she needed to make the rounds and greet guests before her mother came over to yell at her for being a 'rude hostess,' leaving Jughead alone with the pair.

"So…" Veronica began, "Juggie. How are you liking Riverdale?"

Jughead raised his eyebrows at the nickname and prayed that it wouldn't stick.

"It's interesting." He stated thoughtfully, "I thought towns like these only existed in the Midwest…and the 50's."

Archie chuckled, "It took Ronnie some getting used to as well."

"But it's nice." Jughead quickly added, "Betty and Chic took me to Pop's…what does he _put_ in those milkshakes?"

The three quickly delved into heated conversation, debating the merits of milkshake flavors and making plans for the four of them to go to Pop's later that week before the wedding. Jughead was used to making polite conversation—when you're behind the bar, you kind of have to—but talking with Archie and Veronica came surprisingly easy. He could see why Betty was friends with them and was comforted with the knowledge that she'd had such good friends growing up. Allies to help her back when she lived in this house full time.

Jughead was slowly coming to realize that the more he learned about the Betty from Riverdale and not just the New York City Betty, the more incredible she became in his mind.

From the time she spent bantering with him across the bar, he knew she was funny, but until he had seen her with her oldest friends and family, he hadn't seen how goofy she could get—and how endearing she was when she let that side of her show. She was a lawyer, so he obviously knew she had to have been passionate and smart, but after hearing about her sixteen year old self's scathing takedown of the town's Mayor at the town's 75th Jubilee after someone who was—quite literallyborn on the wrong side of the tracks—had been framed for a crime he didn't commit left him in awe.

Given his unintended physical reaction to her this morning, Jughead knew that he was beginning to tread on dangerous ground when it came to Betty Cooper.

He caught her eye across the room as she was talking with an older couple and she gave him a small wave before she turned her attention back to the guests.

Jughead smiled, finding himself suddenly thinking that when it came to Betty Cooper, he didn't mind dangerous ground at all.

* * *

 **Author's Note: Again, the length got away from me on this, but since it's been awhile since I have updated, I figured the more the merrier! Thank you all again for all of the sweet comments, favorites and follows. Hope you enjoyed the 'Core Four' first interaction!**

 **Next Up: Cheryl Blossom's grand entrance.**


	5. Chapter 5: The Turning Point

For the second day in a row, Betty found herself in pure disbelief that this was her current reality.

She was listening to a group of Polly's work friends share stories about her sister, when she caught Jughead's gaze from across the room. Betty knew that Jughead was able to hold conversation with just about anyone. She had seen him converse with all kinds of people at _Peripeteia_ , but unless they were regulars Jughead would always remain a little reserved. He would choose his words carefully—only saying enough to keep the conversation cordial without giving anything away of himself.

Today was different.

He was talking, rather animatedly, with two of her oldest and best friends as if he too had known them for years. Their conversation seemed effortless and Jughead laughed— _actually laughed_ —at something Archie had said to him.

So when Jughead looked up and caught her eye, she couldn't help but smile and offer a tiny wave. A gesture to let him know that she was happy and that their plan was working.

Betty's attention was pulled back to the conversation she was supposed to be a part of when Sarah, one of Polly's more opinionated coworkers, groaned.

"Oh, _great_. Cheryl finally decided to grace us with her presence."

Betty shot Sarah an exasperated look, "Cheryl's not that bad."

"You're only saying that because you live four hours away." Heidi, Polly's assistant, stated flatly.

"Also, you live in New York City. You're used to existing with women who are mega bitches." Sarah added.

"Guys." Betty hissed, "Cheryl is Jason's sister. This is his wedding shower. Be _nice_."

"I will if she will." Sarah muttered under her breath as Cheryl made a beeline towards their group.

Betty gave the two women one last warning look before greeting her future brother-in-law's twin, "Cheryl! It's been ages!"

"Oh my God, I know!" Cheryl exclaimed in a voice that was cloyingly sweet, "You must visit us more, Betts!"

Betty nodded as Cheryl pulled her into a hug that was slightly too tight. Seeing something across the room, Cheryl instantly pulled away and addressed the group, "Who's that brooding hottie?"

Confused, Betty turned to see who Cheryl was looking at and saw—to some distress—that it was Jughead.

"Is he invited to the wedding? If so, I'm calling dibs." Cheryl continued, "Being a bridesmaid has its perks after all."

Sarah and Heidi, who already knew of Jughead's relation to Betty, shot the blonde 'I-told-you-so' looks.

"Actually, Cheryl." Sarah said, clearing her throat, "Betty already beat you to it."

Cheryl turned her gaze from openly ogling Jughead to Betty, her eyes widening a little in shock.

"Betty Cooper!" Cheryl exclaimed sounding scandalized, "Good for you! God, your mother must be going crazy."

Betty frowned, "How do you mean?"

Cheryl rolled her eyes a little, laughing at the joke only she got, "Going from Harvard Hottie Chuck to Mr. Dark and Stormy? You little minx."

Betty's cheeks immediately flushed, regretting that she had asked for clarification, "Yeah, well, Jughead and I have been friends since I moved to New York City and he helped me get through my breakup with Chuck—"

Cheryl gave her a jovial slap on the arm, "I bet he did."

Betty wanted to die.

"No, I didn't mean it like that." Her mind was racing trying to back pedal out of her unfortunate turn of phrase, "He's just always been a really good friend and..."

She was floundering.

Cheryl saw this and her eyes started to narrow in amusement. She would soon go in for the kill.

Betty was so screwed.

"And one day I finally got the courage to ask to be more than really good friends," a voice came from behind her.

Closing her eyes, Betty let out a sigh of relief as she leaned back and into Jughead. He gently placed an arm around her waist, sticking out a hand to shake Cheryl's, "Jughead Jones."

"Cheryl Blossom." She said, batting her eyelashes. Betty inwardly rolled her eyes as she saw Cheryl turn on her trademark 'Blossom Charm,' "Jason's twin."

Jughead flashed her a smile, "Nice to meet you. Betty?"

Betty looked up to see Jughead staring down a her, "I think the sangria is getting low. You were right, we should have made an extra back up."

It took a moment before realization washed over her as Betty wondered why he was telling her they needed to make a reserve batch of sangria when they had already done so before the party started.

He was giving her an out.

Giving Jughead a playful swat, she rolled her eyes for real, "I told you! Now will you listen to all of my brilliant suggestions?"

Jughead returned her eye roll, "Yes, _dear._ "

Betty turned to the three other women, giving her apologies, "Duty calls."

Jughead and Betty walked straight to the kitchen without saying a word before she turned on him and sighed, "Thank you for that. Cheryl is…Cheryl."

"Yeah…" Jughead stated, glancing back out through the kitchen doorway at the group of guests, "Veronica saw that Cheryl was talking to you and practically shoved me in your direction."

Betty laughed, "Sounds about right. The three of us have had a complicated friendship since high school and I'm using the term 'friendship' _very_ loosely."

Leaning against the counter, Jughead wiggled his eyebrows, "High school girl drama? I'm intrigued."

"Cheryl and I never really got along." Betty explained, giving Jughead an unamused look, "We just lived in two different worlds: She was the queen bee and I just kept to myself and my studies. She only really tolerated me because of Jason and Polly.

"When Veronica came to Riverdale, she and I became fast friends and Veronica challenged Cheryl's popularity status. We all eventually formed a truce, but it's tenuous at best.

"Cheryl was primarily pissed off that Veronica strong armed her letting me join the River Vixens and I eventually replaced her as Captain."

"Wait." Jughead interrupted, holding up a hand, "You were a _cheerleader_?"

"Head cheerleader." Betty corrected, smiling at his sudden amusement.

"Prove it. Show me your moves." He gestured at the open kitchen.

Betty shook her head laughing, "I'm sure that if you get enough drinks in Veronica and I, we'll do a whole routine."

Jughead grinned, "Challenge accepted. I'm going to hold you to that, Cooper."

Betty laughed as Polly buzzed into the room, "What are you two doing just standing there? The bowl of chips is almost empty and the veggie tray needs replenishing!"

"On it, Pol." Betty answered, shooting Jughead a final bemused glance before heading to the pantry to retrieve more chips with Jughead trailing behind her.

* * *

The rest of the wedding shower went without a hitch. Betty continued to flit around from guest to guest without running into Cheryl again and when Jughead wasn't helping to replenish food and beverage, he hung back with Archie and Veronica, sometimes catching Chic in conversation as well.

Before anyone knew it, the shower was over and the post party mess had all been cleaned up.

"I think we deserve a round at the Well." Chic exclaimed, throwing an arm around Betty's shoulder.

Polly glanced up from the sofa where she had collapsed with Jason, the two of them tired from the effort of being "on" for the last six hours.

"If she's hung over for our final dress fittings tomorrow, I _will_ kill you." Polly yawned as she rested her head on Jason's shoulder.

"Understood." Chic replied.

"Right here, guys." Betty stated, shaking her head at her older siblings' antics. Ever since they were kids, they knew that the quickest way to annoy their younger sister was to talk about her as though she weren't there.

Chic, Betty, and Jughead headed out to Chic's car before Mr. and Mrs. Cooper could catch wind of their plans.

"Should I text Archie and Veronica?" Jughead asked.

Betty looked at him, pleasantly surprised that Jughead had their numbers and was on good enough footing with the pair to feel as though he could invite them out.

"Sure." Betty nodded, "Maybe you'll get to see that routine after all."

She picked up her pace to the car, leaving a grinning Jughead behind typing furiously on his phone.

* * *

Several Moscow Mules and an embarrassingly loose rendition of 'Go, Riverdale, Go," Betty and Veronica found themselves defending the institution of cheerleading to Chic and Jughead in the middle of the town's favorite watering hole.

"I'm not saying that there is no athleticism involved in cheerleading," Jughead argued as he took a sip of his beer, "I'm just saying that it's a sport built around blatant sexualization of its participants and that it's kind of weird that girls are involved in it as young as elementary school."

"Blatant sexualization?" Veronica challenged, raising an eyebrow.

"You guys did have some racy moves back in the day, Ronnie." Archie admitted, "Not that I minded at the time, but I distinctly remember a lot of body rolling in _very_ short skirts."

"Well this uncomfortable for an older brother to hear." Chic interrupted, standing up, "I'll go get us another round."

"I reject your criticisms and would like to see you try to execute a perfect arabesque while trying to smile and pump the crowd up for a team that lost more games than they won." Veronica stated flatly, leaning back in her chair in mock indignation.

"You got me there." Jughead conceded, his eyes crinkling in amusement.

Betty gave him a nudge, "See? I told you sitting on the same side of the bar would be fun."

"You guys don't go out to bars in New York?" Archie asked, frowning in confusion.

Realizing her slip, Betty began to back peddle, "Well, he is more often behind the bar than not. I do stay after the bar closes and we talk and drink, but not like this. We need to make more time to go out on the nights you do have off instead of staying in."

Jughead took another sip of his beer before expounding on the story she was weaving, "You have to admit, Betts. Staying in is _pretty_ fun."

Betty blushed. She had walked right into that one.

"Well," Veronica chimed in without missing a beat, "when we come and visit, we're going out every night, so prepare yourselves."

"Noted." Jughead laughed, raising his glass a little in Veronica's direction as if the gesture solidified their agreement.

Chic came back with another round of beers for the guys and copper mugs for the girls and Betty slowly reached for hers, staring at it while the other four started making plans for the next evening's post wedding duties excursion.

She tuned them out, staring at her drink while she tried to figure out why she was suddenly feeling so weird.

Betty was tipsy, that she knew, but her stomach was fluttering and she felt a warmth that wasn't related to alcohol.

Without warning, it hit her.

Jughead had called her 'Betts,' a nickname reserved for only a select few to call her.

A nickname that—unless it came out of Cheryl's mouth—was laced with love and endearment.

He had said it so casually, almost as if he had been calling her that for the last two years, but tonight was the first.

Betty shook her head, taking a small sip from her drink, feeling ridiculous. She called him 'Jug' all the time. Nicknames meant nothing.

Right?

In any case, he'd probably never heard her referred to as 'Betts' before they came to Riverdale and he just picked it up without realizing it. She was being completely ridiculous.

Betty looked over at Jughead who seemed so comfortable talking to three of the most important people in her life and couldn't help but feel as though something had changed.

She just wasn't sure what.

* * *

 **Author's Note:** You guys are seriously awesome. You know that? :)

I characterized Cheryl more as the Cheryl from the first few episodes of Riverdale. Large, in charge, and with no love lost for B & V. While I love Cheryl, Betty, and Veronica's complicated and layered dynamics in the show, every cheesy rom-com needs it's person with questionably morals who swoops in and tries to break up our main protagonists. So get ready for some more #CherylBombshell coming up in the next chapter.


	6. Chapter 6: The Final Fitting

Learning from the previous morning, Jughead was wide awake and reading his book without Betty sprawled on top of him when Polly burst into the room.

He'd had enough foresight the night before to have Betty—who was the tipsiest he'd ever seen her—drink two glasses of water and take a B12 vitamin before she fell asleep to help curb her hangover. As a result, Betty only winced slightly at the sudden sound of her sister slamming open her bedroom door.

"Up and at 'em, Betts!" Polly declared as she waltzed into the room, "You have twenty minutes to get dressed. We need to be out the door in thirty."

Betty shifted so that she sat up straighter. She had just woken up about five minutes prior to Polly's interruption and had been slowly sipping the fresh glass of water that Jughead had placed on her nightstand. Considering how much she drank last night, she felt pretty good. She only had a slight headache, but it would easily be taken care of with some ibuprofen.

"What's on the docket today?" Jughead asked, not looking up from his book.

"We have hair trials at the salon at 9:30 and then our final dress fittings at 1 pm." Polly took a breath and shot Jughead a look, "You'll be going with Jason and Chic to double check that all of our rentals are in order and that final payments are made."

Jughead's head snapped up from his book at this and Betty's jaw simply dropped.

"Pol!" She exclaimed, "You can't just make Jughead run errands for you. He is our _guest_."

Polly just shrugged unapologetically, "Somebody needs to make sure that it gets done and while I love Jason, you know our brother…the two of them together unchecked is a recipe for disaster waiting to happen."

"Then get Dad to go along like with the tuxes." Betty fired back.

"Dad and Mom are at work."

"Jughead needed to get some work done today too. You can't just—"

"Ladies, if I may?" Jughead interjected, setting his book down on his lap.

As endearing as it was to watch Betty defend him against her sister, who was turning more and more into a—what was the term Veronica had used last night? Bridezilla—with each passing day, in the grand scheme of fights that could and most likely would be fought this week, Jughead was not willing to let Betty die on this hill for him and especially not on Tuesday when they still had to make it to next Sunday.

The two sisters paused their argument and turned to look at him, "How long should all of this take?"

"About three hours if you keep the boys focused. Four if you go to Pop's for lunch." Polly replied.

"Okay." Jughead nodded, accepting the task.

Right as Polly started squealing with the joy of getting her way, Jughead held up his hand, "But I have some conditions."

Betty smirked as she leaned back against the headboard, turning her attention back to her glass of water.

Polly raised her eyebrows in a way that would have made Alice proud. Clearly no one had pushed back on wedding plans with Polly during the last few months.

Jughead took her silence as permission to continue, "Betty was right, I do have work to get done. Several pieces need to be edited before deadline today, so I have a hard out at 2 pm. Anything that isn't already done on that list of yours by then…Jason and Chic are on their own."

Polly gave a curt nod, "Sounds reasonable. I thought you said you had conditions? As in more than one?"

Jughead grinned, "Glad you brought it up. From now on, you have to knock before entering our room." Polly opened her mouth to speak, but Jughead continued, "And I don't just mean knocking as you're opening the door. You need to knock and wait for permission to enter. There are currently a lot of people in this house and I don't think it's too much to ask for a few moments of privacy. Deal?"

Betty was trying her hardest not to laugh into her glass as she drank, thoroughly enjoying her sister's shock at being told what to do. She'd seen Jughead take this gentle-but-stern approach at _Peripeteia_ , but it was usually when he was trying to coax patrons that had enjoyed one too many drinks to drink a glass of water while they waited for the cab he had called for them.

Betty found it amusing—to say the least—to see it turned on her sister.

After a few moments, Polly let out a frustrated sigh, placing her hands on her hip as she admitted defeat, "Fine, but this little negotiation just bit into your 'moments of privacy' so be quick. You have fifteen minutes."

Polly slammed the door for emphasis and Betty waited all of two seconds before bursting into laughter.

Jughead turned to look at her hunched over in fits of giggles and found himself smiling.

"What?" he asked.

Betty collected herself and sat back up, the occasional snicker escaping, "No one has told Polly off like that in years."

Jughead simply raised his eyebrows, "Seriously? I got the feeling that no one had really told her 'no' when it came to wedding stuff, but…that wasn't even me telling her off. I just reminded her of how normal people with a basic sense of propriety acted."

Betty just looked at him before bursting into laughter again.

Jughead rolled his eyes as he set his book on the nightstand and started to get up to get ready for the day, "We should have sprung for a hotel."

* * *

Within forty-five minutes, Betty found herself sitting in a salon chair describing to her stylist the 'Polly approved' hairstyle she was wanting for the wedding. She'd just gotten done showing her stylist the inspiration photo when Cheryl unceremoniously sat down in the chair next to hers.

"So. Betty." Cheryl started, a mischievous grin on her face, "I am just _dying_ to hear all about Mr. Dark  & Stormy from New York. Spill."

Betty's cheeks flushed, "We're dating, Cheryl. There's really not a whole lot to say."

Cheryl gave an over dramatic huff at this response, "Come on Elizabeth! I want details. Where did you meet? When did you decide to dump Chuck for that fine piece of New York strip? How good is he?"

Lowering her voice and raising her eyebrows, Cheryl had laced the last question with innuendo, causing Betty to go beet red.

This whole time she had been worried about getting the third degree from her mother, she had completely forgotten about Cheryl Blossom.

Betty looked to Sarah and Heidi who were on the other side of her getting their hair done for help, only to find them to be pretending not be listening to her and Cheryl's conversation.

Betty cleared her throat before cautiously beginning, "Well, like I said yesterday, Jughead was the first person I met in New York. He owns a bar about two blocks away from my apartment and we quickly became friends when I frequently would stop in after work.

"We didn't start dating until six months ago after Chuck and I broke up. He asked me out that night actually."

Cheryl wrinkled her nose and leaned over to give Betty a swat on the arm, much to her stylist's dismay, "Good for him! Getting after it like that."

Betty frowned at being referred to as 'it', but didn't have time to dwell on it before Cheryl continued, "So how is the sex? Good, right? He seems like he knows what he's doing in the bedroom. The brooding ones always do."

Out of the corner of her eye, Betty could have sworn she saw Polly's work friends lean in closer, waiting for Betty's response.

"I mean…yeah. It's great." Betty said, stumbling through her words.

She had never been so mortified in her life.

Knowing that this wouldn't be enough for Cheryl, Betty cleared her throat and continued, "I think it helps that I've known him for so long and that we were friends for a year and a half before we started dating. He gets me in a way that Chuck never did and that kind of connection carries over to…other activities."

Cheryl let out a squeal, "Good for you, Betts!"

Suddenly seeing that her stylist was curling her hair 'improperly,' Cheryl turned her focus on correcting the poor woman who had been assigned to her and Betty let out a relieved sigh.

Like Veronica, Cheryl's bullshit meter was a force to be reckoned with, but unlike Veronica, if Cheryl ever suspected that Jughead and Betty's relationship wasn't real, she would wreck havoc. It was almost like Cheryl enjoyed causing trouble for her and Betty never quite understood what she did to inspire it.

The rest of the hair trials went without incident and Polly surprised everyone by treating them to manicures and pedicures before their final dress fittings.

Betty found herself relaxing and enjoying the day, despite Cheryl's efforts to butt into every conversation and somehow make it about her. She found that she cared even less about the redhead's antics when Polly brought out the fixin's for impromptu mimosas when they all moved to the pedicure portion of the appointment.

Despite the rocky start, this day was turning out to be a good one.

* * *

It took all of ten minutes of being alone with both Jason and Chic for Jughead to realize why Polly was so adamant about him being there as they tackled their list of errands. They were definitely fun guys to have a beer with, but doing anything task oriented was like herding cats.

Jason—who for the most part kept to himself, simply content with observing those around him—was completely steamrolled by Chic who had enough energy and enthusiasm for the pair of them. It didn't take much convincing on Chic's part to get Jason to go along with whatever crazy scheme Chic was concocting—like ditching the list to go watch the game at a bar—and it took a lot of effort on Jughead's part to reel them back in and actually complete the tasks at hand.

At first Jughead took Jason's lack of interest towards completing the duties for the wedding as general apathy towards the wedding itself, but as the morning wore on, it became clear that Jason really didn't care about the details as long as at the end of the day, he would be married to Polly.

"I know this is all going to look great." Jason stated as he and Jughead looked over the itemized list of lanterns and birch logs of varying lengths that Polly had ordered for their reception décor, "But honestly, I would be just as happy with simply signing our marriage license at City Hall."

Jughead turned to look at Jason, ignoring Chic who was currently going on a rant about why people would spend money renting 'driftwood accents' when they could just go to Sweetwater River and collect it for free, "Then why are you having such a large and lavish wedding?"

Jason shot Jughead a look, "You've met Alice."

"Ah." Jughead muttered, getting Jason's point immediately. There is no way Alice would accept a City Hall elopement.

"You have yet to meet my parents, but they would be just as unhappy, if not more so if Polly and I's wedding was not the talk of the town." Jason finished checking everything over on the invoice and gave an approving nod to the vendor, "Besides…Polly is happy and if this is what she wants, who am I to argue as long as we reach the same destination?"

Jughead didn't have too much time to think about this before the vendor came back with Jason's credit card.

"Do you happen to have the card that was originally used to pay for this order?" The older man asked.

"That was probably Polly's. Are you not able to use mine?" Jason answered, grimacing at the hiccup to their otherwise smooth morning.

"Well, in order to issue back the credit from the initial order since your guest count went down, I'll need the original card used."

Jason sighed, checking his watch, "The girls should be over at the bridal shop by now for their fittings. I probably shouldn't go over there in case Polly is in her dress…"

Before Chic could chime in with what could only have been a non-helpful suggestion, Jughead offered to run to the dress shop, especially since it was just down the street.

"Don't let him touch anything while I'm gone." Jughead told Jason, jerking his head over towards Chic.

Jason chuckled and gave a nod, "Can't make any promises."

"Fair enough." Jughead grinned.

Leaving the rental store, Jughead casually strolled down the street, enjoying the sudden time to himself. He found himself admiring his surroundings. For as small of a town as Riverdale was, its main square was thriving. Not something Jughead thought he would see during a time when according to the news, 'Small Town America' seemed to be struggling.

He could easily picture Betty growing up here. Going shopping in some of the boutiques with Veronica, talking Archie down from buying a more expensive guitar than he needed at the corner music shoppe. Jughead loved growing up in New York City, but he found a part of him wishing he had grown up in a town like this, complete with the white picket fence and large backyard.

He was deep in thought when he walked into the bridal store and it took him a moment to realize that he'd been immediately spotted by Betty who was trying to get his attention.

Committing his vision of the classic two story colonial home his imagination had conjured to memory, Jughead looked up.

For a moment, he was speechless.

Much like when Betty had walked into _Peripeteia_ on the night that started this whole comedy of errors, the sheer differentness of Betty's appearance was almost as stunning as how beautiful in that moment she looked.

The dress itself was understated in its elegance. It was made out of a deep emerald Chiffon and was simple in its design: thin spaghetti straps, v-neck, and an a-line skirt that together, created a light and airy look despite the dress's dark color.

Her hair had been swept up into an intentionally messy updo, but in the midst of it was a braided crown that gave the serious and logical-to-a-fault woman he had known for the past two years in New York a touch of whimsy. This was the Betty he was quickly beginning to know since they arrived in Riverdale: the silly, bubbly woman who wasn't afraid to let her hair down—quite literally, Jughead had never seen her hair down in the last two years of knowing her than he had in the past two days—and enjoy the moment.

"Hello? Earth to Jug." Betty called, waving her hand a little in front of his face, "Come in, Jug."

Jughead shook his head to clear his thoughts, snapping to attention, "I'm so sorry. I spaced out there for a second."

"That's okay. This…is not your usual element." Betty chuckled, gesturing at the overly frilly surroundings they currently found themselves in.

"No…it's not that." Jughead stated, tilting his head thoughtfully, "I don't think I have ever seen anything so perfect as you in this moment."

Betty's cheeks instantly flushed at the compliment, "The braid crown isn't too much?"

"Nothing could be too much when it comes to you."

They both stood there for a moment in silence—Jughead unsure of why he'd just said what he did and Betty trying to quite the butterflies in her stomach so she could actually form a response that wasn't flustered gibberish.

Luckily, Cheryl came over to disrupt the moment.

"Excuse me, Jughead. This is a boy-free zone." She mockingly chastised in what Betty instantly recognized as her flirtatious voice.

Cheryl crossed her arms and gave Jughead a wink, "But I guess we could make an exception for _you_."

Jughead frowned in confusion and slight horror, but decided to push through the redhead's blatant attempt at flirting with him—and in front of his supposed girlfriend no less—getting to the task at hand.

"I need Polly's credit card in order to get back some credit at the rental place. Jason sent me over since he didn't want to risk seeing Polly in her dress." He explained.

Betty furrowed her brows, switching into business mode, "Of course. I'll go tell Pol and get her card."

She excused herself, leaving Jughead alone with Cheryl. He looked Cheryl over as discreetly as he could—she didn't need any encouragement from him—and found that while she did look gorgeous in the same emerald green dress that Betty wore, Cheryl gave off a femme fatale vibe. Her long red hair had been curled into soft waves and arranged so that it cascaded over one shoulder. Her bold make-up choices only enhanced the siren-esque look.

Jughead found that he much preferred Betty's look.

"So…" Cheryl started as Jughead braced himself for whatever insane thing was sure to come out of her mouth, "What's a ten like you doing with a five like Betty?"

It was even crazier than Jughead had anticipated, "Excuse me?"

Cheryl just rolled her eyes, "Oh, come on, Jughead. The only guys Betty ever dated in high school were living mannequins, but you…how did _Betty_ land such a catch?"

Squinting at her, shocked from the pure audacity of her statement, Jughead tried to come up with a scathing response to put the redhead in her place. Cheryl was starting to make him believe in the 'evil twin' trope considering she was Jason's complete opposite. How could someone so quiet and otherwise polite have a sister that was so…invidious.

"I don't even know where to begin." Jughead muttered, not bothering to hide his irritation.

Cheryl grinned, "I could think of a few places."

Before Jughead could respond, Betty returned with Polly's card.

"Here you go, Jug." She stated, a little out of breath, "It is not easy to run in this thing."

Giving Cheryl one last scowl, Jughead took the offered credit card from Betty, leaning in to give her a quick kiss on the cheek in an attempt to prove a point to the redhead across from him.

"Thanks, Betts." He returned, "I'm about to head over to Pop's to get started on those deadlines."

Stunned at the sudden show of affection, Betty just nodded, "Okay. We'll be done here in about an hour or so."

"I'll have a strawberry milkshake waiting." He reached out to give her hand a final squeeze before he left.

As Jughead left, it occurred to Betty that Cheryl must have said or done something to cause Jughead to up his PDA game.

Of course it was because of Cheryl.

Betty turned to Cheryl, doing her best to act as though that wasn't the first time Jughead had kissed her.

"What?" She asked as nonchalantly as she could, "Come on, one of us should learn how to do Polly's bustle."

"Be there in a sec." Cheryl stated in that sickly sweet tone of hers.

As Betty walked away, Cheryl reached into her bra, taking out her phone.

It was time to look into Jughead Jones.

* * *

 **Author's Note: Thank you all for your patience! I am—somewhat ironically—an event/wedding planner and we are right in the thick of wedding season, so my free time to write is mostly nonexistent, but I wanted to take some time on this long weekend to get y'all another chapter. Next up…the rehearsal dinner…**


	7. Chapter 7: The Rehearsal

Betty and Jughead quickly fell into a routine.

During the morning and early afternoon, they would help with wedding related tasks and errands, Jughead would head to Pop's half way through the day to get in a few hours of writing and editing, and in the evening, they would meet up with Chic, Archie, and Veronica for a nightcap or two. Chic's girlfriend Lisa came into town the next night and seamlessly entered into the group during the evening jaunts to the Well.

Between wedding tasks, work, and them trying to escape the Cooper household whenever possible, Betty and Jughead were able avoid any further uncomfortable encounters with Betty's parents or Cheryl Blossom. Jughead's condition of making Polly knock before entering must have trickled up to Alice because over the next three days, Jughead and Betty enjoyed relaxing mornings waking up and getting ready on their own terms.

Betty quickly found that she enjoyed those moments the most.

They were nothing special—usually Jughead read his book while Betty looked over some old case files or would browse some law texts, taking notes for an upcoming case. She felt completely relaxed sitting in her childhood bedroom with Jughead tucked in next to her—his ratty dark gray sleep shirts contrasting with her floral quilts, his hair mussed as he focused on the text in front of him.

In her room they could just be themselves. No ruse to worry about, no double checking to make sure they were saying and doing the right things. Just the two of them doing their own thing in the precious hour they had to themselves before the undoubtedly busy day began.

Betty had had moments like these with Chuck, but they'd never felt this easy—this natural. With Chuck there was always an expectation that when Chuck was ready to get out of bed and start his day, Betty would instantly follow. Or if Chuck wanted some 'morning attention,' it was assumed that Betty would put down her work or book she was reading at the time to follow suit.

Sure the fact that she wasn't actually dating Jughead made that last comparison flawed, but Betty got the feeling that even if they were, he would never pressure her into anything she didn't want to do.

As the days passed, Betty found herself thinking how strange it will be to stop spending so much time with Jughead once they got back to New York City. She knew something had fundamentally changed with their friendship during this trip, but Betty had no idea that Jughead had felt it too.

Jughead had realized early on in the week that he was on dangerous ground when it came to Betty Cooper. The lines were beginning to blur for him on what he said and how he acted. It was getting increasingly harder to tell whether it was from what he knew he should be doing to keep the ruse up or if was what he wanted to do because he knew that he was beginning to develop feelings for her.

Or rather, feelings that he had harbored on some level since they had first met, were growing into something more concrete.

Before either of them knew it, the day before the wedding arrived.

Betty finished highlighting the last page of the packet she had been reading a let out a sigh.

"That was dramatic." Jughead commented, folding the corner on his current page on is book.

"I feel dramatic." Betty replied, sinking down into her pillows.

Jughead's lips twitched as he set the book down on the nightstand and played into the game, "And why is that?"

Betty turned to look at him, "Tonight's the rehearsal dinner."

Jughead pursed his lips, thinking the statement over, "The past few days haven't been _too_ terrible."

"That's because we all haven't been forced to be in the same room for more than an hour." Betty retorted, pressing her hands over her eyes, "This is going to be ten times worse than the wedding shower."

He gave her a look, "The wedding shower wasn't that bad. Sure there were some…intense moments and Polly acted only like a _slightly_ insane person, but it really wasn't _that_ bad."

"You haven't met the Blossoms yet." Betty stated, dropping her hands to her side.

Jughead frowned, "Yeah, why is that? Why weren't they at the shower?"

"Because we're _the Coopers_." She stated matter-of-factly.

Jughead shook his head, "I'm not following."

Betty sat up and shifted so that she was facing him, "The Blossoms are the richest family in town. Like…absurdly wealthy. _Comically_ wealthy. Richie Rich level of wealth. If there were more mountains in Riverdale, they would have broken ground on Mount Blossomore a long time ago."

"Got it." Jughead chuckled, holding up a hand.

"And us being upper-middle class just isn't good enough." Betty finished, "I think they were secretly hoping that Polly and Jason would break-up during college, but those two bucked the high-school sweetheart odds and by the time he proposed, it was eight years too late."

"So they just decided not to go to their son's wedding shower?" Jughead asked, raising his eyebrows.

"No, they just threw their own posh one with their guests only last week." She replied.

"Ah." Jughead stated. They were silent for a moment before he continued, "So then why was Cheryl there?"

Betty just looked at him, "I would like to see you try to tell Cheryl not to come to an event."

Jughead laughed, "Point taken."

"We should get out of bed." Betty stated, unmoving.

"We definitely should" Jughead agreed.

"I really don't want to." Betty sighed, leaning towards Jughead, resting her forehead on his shoulder.

Jughead momentarily froze, not sure what to do. Betty let out another sigh and Jughead made the decision to mirror her action and rest his head on hers.

"I know, but the sooner we start the day, the sooner it will be over." He replied.

Betty groaned "You make too much sense sometimes."

"It's part of my charm."

Betty chuckled and they stayed there in bed for a few moments longer before very begrudgingly leaving the comfort of the covers and starting their day.

* * *

Jughead sat patiently in a church pew as he watched everyone practice the wedding ceremony.

They were in the town's oldest church—a fact that Betty assured Jughead meant prestige as far as the Blossoms were concerned. From what he could tell, the next day's main event was going to be a long one full of all the pomp and circumstance that could possibly be crammed into a forty-five minute ceremony.

The girls had spent the majority of the day in the church decorating. The birch logs and branches that Polly had painstakingly picked out had been arranged on both sides of the alter. The logs varying in height were placed in a way that made them look almost naturally cascading and moss had been placed on top of the logs along with pillar candles that Jughead assumed would be lit before the ceremony.

He hated to admit to himself that he liked how it looked.

Was it over the top? A little, but it didn't look too ostentatious. And in the nearly two century old church, it just looked right. He could already tell where the floral arrangements were going to go the next day within the cascading birch (he'd helped Betty make the arrangements after they picked up all the bulk floral earlier that afternoon) and he grinned with smug satisfaction at how good they were going to look.

Dear God, he needed a break from wedding stuff.

Betty had told him to go sit in a pew while she and the rest of the families and the bridal party hung back before the rehearsal started. He took a seat next to Lisa and the two of them sat in comfortable silence as the pastor explained the ceremony timeline to everyone.

Jugehead very easily identified who Jason's parents were. The fact that they were the only other redheads in the church besides Jason and Cheryl, the sheer level of propriety they carried themselves with and how they made it a point not to interact with anyone unnecessarily were a dead giveaway. Jughead once again found himself wondering how Jason was so well adjusted given the personalities of the rest of his family.

It's probably why he's so soft-spoken, Jughead mused. The less attention he drew to himself, the less he would have to interact with his absurdly bourgeois family.

Betty had been paired with Jason's Best Man, Mike, who had been Jason's roommate in college. Mike was about a head taller than Betty and about double her size in pure muscle mass. He looked like the kind of guy who would gladly tell you how much he could dead lift regardless of whether or not you asked. Jughead would have laughed at how disparate the pairing was if Betty didn't look so concerned that Mike was going to trip in his clearly brand new and unbroken in dress shoes, taking her down with.

She locked eyes with Jughead as she passed him, her expression filled with panic. Jughead just gave her a thumbs up and mouthed, "You got this."

Betty's expression softened and she turned her attention forward, taking in a deep breath. Jughead chuckled to himself as she passed, leaning back in the pew.

Lisa leaned over and whispered, "Ten bucks says he trips during the ceremony."

"Nah." Jughead dismissed, "Betty is going to give him a talking to about breaking those shoes in overnight. My money's on Cheryl losing balance during the ceremony. Those heels she has on are way too tall and way too narrow to be standing still in for forty-five minutes. I've seen many girls make that shoe selection mistake at the bar."

"She seems like she knows her way around designer stilettos." Lisa countered, "You're on."

Jughead grinned as they shook hands, standing as Polly practiced her grand entrance. The wedding party practiced the processional a couple more times before they called it good and headed to the rehearsal dinner.

The Blossoms had insisted that they would host the dinner at their mansion and Jughead was morbidly excited about seeing this place after Betty had built it up all week.

"' _Thornhill?_ '" Jughead asked as he read the iron sign as Betty drove them through the gates of the Blossom's estate, "Seriously?"

"Oh…you haven't seen anything yet." Betty stated.

"Are you sure this is a rehearsal dinner and not a very elaborate murder mystery party? This mansion is straight out of a Stephen King novel." Jughead exclaimed taking in the stone and brick façade with tendrils of ivy crawling up the sides.

Betty grinned, "Just…don't get separated from the group in there."

Shaking his head, Jughead adjusted his beanie and pulled on the lapels of his blazer to straighten his jacket, "I'll be sure to keep that in mind."

They parked the car and headed inside, Betty automatically looping her arm with Jughead's as if it was now the most natural thing in the world. His mind momentarily went from pondering whether or not Betty had been joking with her previous comment or if it was actually meant as advice to bursting with happiness that Betty had been doing these small subtle acts off affection all day.

His mood quickly changed, however, when Cheryl swung the door open in anticipation of their arrival.

"Good! You're finally here!" She exclaimed with her voice an octave too high and her pitch cloyingly sweet.

Betty and Jughead looked at each other. She was up to something.

Cheryl moved forward, pushing past the two of them. She'd been talking to someone behind them.

They turned to see who it was and Jughead nearly had to catch Betty as she momentarily lost her balance.

Jughead watched in disbelief and Cheryl threw her arms around Chuck Clayton.

* * *

 **Author's Note: Sorry for the delay in updated, but boy...things are about to get interesting!**


	8. Chapter 8: The Rehearsal Dinner

For a moment, it didn't even register that Jughead was speaking to her. All Betty heard was a soft ringing in her ears.

Chuck was here.

Chuck. Was. Here.

Cheryl had quickly ushered Chuck inside, leaving Jughead and Betty out on the front entryway, stunned. It was very clear to her that Cheryl was up to something. Instinct—not to mention experience—told Betty that whatever it was, she was in serious trouble.

"Betty?" Jughead asked, concerned at the blonde's unresponsiveness, "Betty?"

She looked at him, tears threatening to fall from her eyes, "It's over, Jug. Cheryl knows. Soon everyone will know that this has all just been one huge lie. I can't…I can't go in there."

"Hey." Jughead soothed, cupping Betty's face with his hands, "We don't know anything. For all we know this could be one big psych out. Cheryl could know nothing."

Betty took deep breaths, trying to blink back tears, "It'll become very clear very quickly that Chuck and I just broke up. That you and I haven't been dating for six months." She sighed, "This was such a stupid plan. Why did I have to rope you into this?"

"I knew what I was getting into. Besides," he stated ruefully "while I don't think very highly of him, I also don't think Chuck would conspire with Cheryl to hurt you like this. He's an asshole, but he doesn't seem like the vindictive type."

Betty choked out a tiny laugh.

"I'm willing to bet he doesn't fully understand why he's even here other than what Cheryl just told us." Jughead continued, "He's Jason's friend and Cheryl said he's still invited. He looked genuinely shocked to see me here with you, so we know Cheryl hasn't filled him in on everything.

"If Cheryl suspects something and her goal is to create a scene, she'd want an audience, so she's probably plotting something for when we're all at the dinner table."

Betty started to groan, but Jughead cut her off, "We can still try to save this situation."

"Jughead, no. You've already done enough. You don't need to get wrapped up in this any more than you have. It's over."

Moving his hands from her face down to her own, Jughead gave them a reassuring squeeze, "We're in this together Cooper. I need you to trust me. No matter what goes on in there, I need you to trust me."

She stood there for a moment, focusing on getting her breathing under control. As much as she didn't want to step through that front door, Jughead had a point that this situation could be saved. Or at the very least, the damage could be lessened. Taking in a deep breath, Betty looked up at him.

"I trust you."

Jughead smiled, "Then let's go. The less time that Cheryl has in there unsupervised, the better."

He held out his arm and Betty looped hers through and held on as though it was the only thing keeping her grounded.

In a way, it was.

* * *

After making the cursory round of introductions, Jughead scanned the room and saw that Chuck was alone by the makeshift bar pouring himself a drink.

"Wine?" He asked, leaning close to Betty.

She gave a quick nod and Jughead excused himself from the group with which Betty was currently engaged in conversation.

He calmly walked over to Chuck, narrowing his eyes in focus. Jughead considered himself an expert at reading people and he was 100% positive that Chuck didn't know anything about why he was actually here. Knowing what he knew about Cheryl, blatantly revealing his and Betty's relationship for the ruse it was, was not her style. She enjoyed being the villain, but she would never stoop to something so obvious. No, she would wait for a part of the story that Jughead and Betty had been telling over the last week to come up in conversation and Chuck's confused reaction to contradict their story organically and then revel in the fallout.

This meant that it was imperative that Jughead got to Chuck first.

He reached the bar and casually picked up a bottle of white wine, pretending to read the label, waiting for Chuck to make the first move.

"So you and Betty, huh?"

Bingo.

"Yeah." Jughead replied nonchalantly, "Me and Betty."

Jughead turned to face Chuck, deliberately sizing him up before launching into what he had to say, "Listen…you're going to hear a lot of stuff tonight, a lot of stuff about Betty and I's relationship, the timeline of which doesn't quite match up with recent events."

He gave Chuck a pointed look.

Chuck held up his hands in surrender, "Hey, I—"

"I'm not interested in whatever excuse you've been telling yourself or anyone else to justify your actions. What you did to Betty was really shitty and the very least you could do tonight is not contradict anything you hear tonight."

"Wait…you and Betty are pretending to—"

"How the hell did you think this weekend was going to go if Betty showed up alone when the entire Cooper clan pretty much expected her to be engaged?"

The color drained from Chuck's face as Jughead delivered the final blow.

"She found the ring. It was a couple days before you broke up with her. Hiding an engagement ring that you're planning to give someone else in your sock drawer when your girlfriend does your laundry is a really sloppy move, bro. She expected a proposal."

Chuck stood there taking in Jughead's words. Jughead noticed with some satisfaction that he at least looked like he was internalizing how terrible his actions had truly been.

Looking at Jughead, he asked, "What do I need to know?"

Jughead shrugged, pouring Betty's wine, "We've been dating for six months. Started as friends first, but then became something more. Tale as old as time."

Chuck nodded, taking a shaky sip of the cocktail he'd made himself.

"Honestly, you don't really know a whole lot about our relationship because after Betty broke up with you, you kept your distance." Jughead continued, stressing the last few words as a subtle warning.

Moving to make himself a drink of his own, Jughead continued, "Your job is very easy tonight. Smile, nod, and say nothing about what happened last Friday. I think you've hurt Betty enough for one week."

Jughead gave Chuck a not-so-friendly-clap on the shoulder before grabbing both his and Betty's drinks and walked back to where Betty stood. She had been eyeing the two nervously, but all Jughead did was just give her a slight nod in reassurance as he handed her wine to her.

"I know you don't normally like Rieslings, but I think you'll like this vintage." He stated as though he hadn't spent the last few minutes not-so-subtly threatening her ex-boyfriend.

Betty looked at him, stunned for a moment, but gave a small smile realizing that Jughead must have said something to Chuck and that, at least for the moment, Jughead thought everything was going to be okay.

"You guys are adorable," Sarah commented, clutching her hand to her chest, "It's hard enough finding a guy who even likes wine instead of 'craft beer'" she continued, rolling her eyes at the term 'craft beer,' "but to find one who not only knows about wine, but also knows what kind you like? Ugh. Lock that one down, Betty."

"Uh…" Jughead muttered awkwardly looking over at Betty whose cheeks had turned pink indicating she was feeling just as uneasy about the situation has he was.

"Yes, Betty. You better lock Jughead down before he slips away too." A sickly sweet voice came from behind.

Cheryl.

She strolled up to the group, smug smile on her face on the arm of Chuck who at least had the decency to look a little sheepish.

Jughead wrapped an arm around Betty's waist, partially as a gesture of support, but also as one of defense.

This was it.

"Oh, I don't plan on going anywhere." Jughead offered, giving Cheryl a forced smile.

"Neither did Chuck until Betty here broke his heart." She replied without missing a beat, "JJ would have loved having his friend as a brother, but alas, Juggie over here stole our Betty away., what was it…six months ago? Half a year! My how time flies…"

Betty was frozen, her mind blank. She wasn't even sure she was breathing. Jughead narrowed his eyes at the redhead who, he had to admit, was very good. He'd made the right choice in seeking Chuck out straight away. Cheryl wasn't messing around.

Chuck looked at Jughead and then at Betty, hesitating for a moment before speaking, "It's my fault he even had the chance. I messed up—took Betty for granted." He paused, "This is actually the first time I've seen Betty since the breakup. You look good, Bets."

"Th-thanks." She stammered, stunned at what had just taken place.

To Jughead's satisfaction, Cheryl seemed a little surprised too.

"Charles!" Alice Cooper exclaimed as she walked into the room, "What a lovely surprise!"

Jughead felt Betty tense up again.

"Betty! I thought you said that Charles wasn't going to be here?"

"Mrs. Cooper, how lovely to see you!" Chuck exclaimed, giving Betty's mother a hug.

"When I heard that you and Betty were had separated, I was just simply beside myself! You two made such a cute couple—a true power couple." Alice continued.

"Mom!" Betty exclaimed, mortified.

"Well you did!" Alice exclaimed as justification. Turning to Jughead, she added, "It's not that getting to know you this last week hasn't been fun, it's just that this whole time I had thought that Betty was still with Charles here, so it was quite the shock."

Jughead and Betty just stood there, unsure of how to respond. Betty took a long sip of her wine while Jughead started to reconsider his earlier opinion and looked around for the nearest exit.

"Well, I knew something was up." Polly stated grinning as she walked up to the group with Jason.

Betty gave her sister a confused look, "You did?"

"Oh yeah!" Polly nodded, "A couple months ago, I noticed that she stopped mentioning Chuck during our phone calls unless I specifically asked about him and even then she kept her stories kind of vague.

Polly swiveled to look at Jughead, mischievous look in her eyes, "No detail was spared, however, when she talked about stopping by _Peripeteia_ after work, or what book she reading or movie she was watching that 'this bartender I know' recommended…"

Jughead looked over at Betty who was staring at her sister, mouth open in shock as her cheeks slowly became more and more flushed. He made a mental note to ask Betty about all of this later, but for now was relieved with how this situation was playing itself out.

"So…I was pleasantly surprised when I opened the door and saw her with Jughead here on Sunday and he has definitely lived up to all that I had heard about him." Polly finished.

Jughead was _definitely_ going to be asking Betty about this later.

"Well," Alice stated, clearing her throat, "This just goes to show that you need to call your mother more often, Elizabeth."

Betty offered her mother a forced smile, "I'll do my best." Turning to look at Chuck, Betty continued, "It's really good to see you Chuck."

Jughead smirked to himself, proud of the blonde he held in his arm while Cheryl stood there, silently fuming.

Things were decidedly not going to plan.

She would just have to go nuclear at the reception.

* * *

Betty stood in the entryway waiting for Jughead to bring the car up to the house. She had some last minute details to discuss with the bridal party and he'd offered to go get the car in the meantime.

The night could have gone _so_ much worse.

She wasn't sure what Jughead had said to Chuck—she'd made a mental note to ask him about it—but whatever it was had worked. Chuck went along with everything that had been said that evening, never raising any questions or contradicting any of the stories that were told. He even went so far as to hint that _she_ was the one who had broken up with _him_.

It was weird seeing him again so soon after their breakup, especially with how they had broken up. She had been so anxious that something was going to happen the entire evening, she'd had no time to really feel anything but panic at seeing Chuck again. Now that she had some time to reflect on it, she still wasn't sure how she felt. She wasn't as sad as she thought she would be and she figured spending the week around family and friends she hadn't seen in months as well as constantly being on the go with wedding activities helped her keep her mind off of it.

But deep down Betty knew that the real reason why—all things considered—she was okay with seeing Chuck again was driving towards her in her car. But she wasn't ready to unpack those thoughts and feelings. Not yet anyway.

They still had the next day to get through.

She hopped in the car, thanking Jughead for offering to get it.

"Of course," He replied, "You do realize, though, that I'm driving us to Pop's because you still owe me today's milkshake payment."

Betty chuckled, "I could do with a milkshake as well. Maybe some fries. That dinner was…."

"Course after course of portions that were way too small in size—or as we say in the biz "deconstructed"—and probably cost way more than it should have?" he offered as he pulled out of Thornhill's drive.

"Something like that."

Jughead smiled and they drove in a pleasant silence before Betty broke it, "So what did you end up saying to Chuck anyway? He barely said anything the entire evening."

Jughead adjusted his grip on the wheel as he considered his words, "I simply reminded him of how…unfortunate his most recent behavior had been and that the literal least he could do was to…not say a whole lot and go along with whatever was said throughout the evening."

Betty gave him a look, "And I am sure you said it in such a polite manner as well."

Jughead gasped, clutching a hand to his chest in mock incredulity, "Betty Cooper, I am not sure I want to know what you're implying."

Laughing, Betty playfully gave him a swat as they pulled into the parking lot of Pop's, "Well, whatever you said, thank you. I'm not sure what I would have done had tonight gone differently."

Jughead hesitated as he put the car into park, "We would have thought of something. I wasn't going to let that guy hurt you again."

Betty blushed and looked down at her lap.

Feeling like the mood in the car was getting a little too heavy, Jughead gave Betty a grin, "You know...we were almost in trouble there when your mother jumped in, but Polly really helped sell it..."

Betty's eyes widened a little as she realized where he was headed with this.

"You really liked my book and movie recommendations, huh?" he grinned, liking how uncomfortable she looked as she unbuckled her seatbelt.

"Yeah, well, it's not like I could talk to her about doing legal research and drafting legal documents all day." She offered lamely as she hopped out of the car.

"Oh, I don't know. I remember the night a few months ago where you filed that one motion for…summary something. You spent a sold twenty minutes talking about how excited you were when you'd finished the final draft. Riveting stuff." He teased.

"Summary _judgement_. And I was excited because I knew it was absolutely perfect and that the Court was going to grant it, which they did." She shot back, the little bell to Pop's ringing as it announced their entry.

"Obviously. It was _perfect_ after all."

Betty turned to shoot him an unamused look only to find him grinning like a cat who had just eaten a canary. They both burst into laughter as a familiar voice called out to them.

"B! Jughead! Over here!" Veronica called, waving them over to the booth where she was sitting with Archie.

Without thinking, Jughead held out his hand and Betty instantly laced her fingers with his and the two of them walked over join their friends.

* * *

 **Author's Note: I'm so sorry that it took so long to update, so I tried to insert a lot of Bughead-y goodness. The next chapter won't take as long for an update, I swear! Thank you for all of your lovely favorites, follows, reviews, and most importantly, your patience! You all are the BEST!**


	9. Chapter 9: The Wedding Day

Betty was gone well before Jughead woke for the day.

He vaguely recalled her trying to rummage around the room as quietly as possibly sometime around 5 am, but he felt no guilt in falling right back asleep. After all, he wasn't the one with a 6 am appointment at the town's salon.

He headed downstairs around 8 am to find it bustling with activity.

"You're with me today." Chick announced, pointing at Jughead as he walked into the kitchen.

"Someone forget their tux already?" Jughead asked as he made a beeline towards the coffee machine.

"Only the Groom." Alice commented with a rather impressive eyeroll as she burst into the kitchen, hair in rollers, silk robe flailing as she breezed through the room with purpose. Jughead made a mental note to stay out of her path for the rest of the day.

"We've got to grab Jason's tux, pick up breakfast for the rest of the groomsmen, and make sure no one does anything to ruin their suits until after the ceremony." Chick elaborated.

"Oh." Jughead stated with mild surprise, "I'm not just meeting everyone at the church?"

"Trust me." Chick stated as he walked over to Jughead pouring a cup of coffee for himself, "You do not want word to reach Polly that you were sitting around idle all day when there's _'so much that needs to be done!'_ "

Jughead chuckled as Chick pitched his voice up an octave in an attempt to mimic his sister.

That had been her mantra all week.

"Lisa already got tricked into being an unofficial bridal attendant this morning." He continued.

"I was wondering where she was." Jughead commented, looking around the room.

Chick simply shook his head, "That woman is way too nice for this family."

He reached his arm out and gave Jughead a firm squeeze on the shoulder, "I couldn't save her, but I can save you."

Jughead laughed, "Because that's not over dramatic or anything."

The sound of the front door opening caught their attention as the group of bridesmaids walked into the kitchen, their salon appointments apparently over.

Jughead instantly caught Betty's gaze and gave a raised eyebrow at her appearance. While the messy bun and perfectly placed floral crown looked just as good as it did earlier in the week, she was dressed in sweatpants and an oversized flannel shirt making the overall look rather eclectic.

He also quickly realized that the flannel shirt was his.

"I didn't want to wake you to ask if I could borrow it," Betty said, walking over to Jughead almost as if she had read his mind., "but we needed to wear a button up to get our hair done so—"

Jughead held up a hand, grinning, "It looks better on you anyway."

"I promise I'll wash it before I give it back to you so it doesn't smell like hairspray." She murmured, her cheeks turning slightly pink at the compliment.

Jughead looked her over once more, his chest tightening as he got the full look of her in his clothes, a look he thought she was pulling off a little too well for his comfort in a crowded room.

"Wait, are those my _sweatpants_?" He asked.

Betty's blush deepened as Chick cleared his throat.

"As much fun as this is for your older brother to witness, we've got to go." Chick interjected as he started shoving Jughead out the door.

Polly's head snapped up at this, "Wait, I thought that Jughead could—"

"Sorry! Can't hear you! We'll see you at the church! You look beautiful!" Chick called over his shoulder as he forced Jughead to pick up his pace as they headed out the front door.

Once they had made it safely to Chick's car, Chick gave Jughead a knowing look, "What did I tell you?"

Jughead held up his hands in surrender, thankful that he'd thought ahead and decided to get dressed for the day before he'd come downstairs that morning.

"Let's head to the dry cleaners." He chuckled, buckling himself in, "That tux isn't going to pick up itself."

* * *

Polly rolled her eyes as soon as the front door closed. "Lisa, would you mind heading to the church and making sure everything is still set up and ready to go from last night?"

Lisa nodded as she stood and grabbed her purse, sighing in relief at the chance to leave the group.

Betty watched her leave trying to hide her grin. She had felt so sorry for Lisa when Polly caught her in her cross hairs that morning. Then again, Chick had told her not to ask Polly if there was anything 'she could help with,' but she did anyway.

The poor woman was way too nice for this family.

"Okay, the photographer isn't due to arrive for another forty-five minutes, so we can hold off on getting ready the rest of the way until then." Polly announced, checking her clipboard.

Yes. Polly had a clipboard.

Betty got to work taking out the platters of fruit and pastries that she had quickly prepped earlier that morning for when they returned from their appointment. Her job was to make sure that everyone ate and was at least somewhat hydrated before the ceremony. No one would be fainting mid-vows on her watch.

After the girls all got themselves a plate, the talk quickly turned to excited chatter about the upcoming events of the day.

"Jason is such a lucky guy!" Heidi exclaimed as everyone else nodded in agreement.

"I am so happy to finally get a sister. Two even." Cheryl stated looking from Polly to Betty, smiling a smile that Betty could tell was a little strained.

Polly gave Betty a sidelong look, "Maybe I'll be getting another brother soon?"

Betty's face turned bright red as the rest of the bridesmaids made noises of encouragement, "Pol, Jughead and I have been only dating a few months."

Polly waved her hands in dismissal, "So? I knew Jason was the One after the first week."

"Really?" Betty asked, eyebrows raised skeptically, "One week?"

"Really." Polly stated taking a smug bite out of her muffin, "We'd been on two official dates and spent all of our time after school together that week…but there was a moment in the cafeteria where I just looked at him and he gave me this goofy grin…I don't know how to explain it, but in that moment I just knew."

Betty felt her eyes mist at the sweetness of the story and looked around to find the other girls making mad grabs for the box of tissues.

Polly looked like she was close to tears herself, but she snuck a glance at the itinerary on her clipboard and snapped back into action, "Get your tears out now, ladies. The photographer is due to arrive in ten minutes and once makeup is on, this is a tear-free zone."

* * *

For the fifth time that day, Jughead offered a silent prayer of thanks that Chick had gotten him out of the house before Polly had tasked him with something. Lisa had caught up with the groomsmen after checking on the church decorations and was recounting her busy morning of menial errands.

Now, she was sitting with the group of guys in Thorn Hill's guest house, beer in hand, waiting for it to be time to head to the ceremony. When Mike had produced a mini cooler full of beer, Jason gave a half-hearted protest, knowing that if Polly caught wind of this, he would never hear the end of it. Chick calmly replied that it was because of that, Jason should definitely have a beer beforehand.

Jughead had never been in a wedding before and for the first few minutes, he was a little lost at the pre-ceremony male bonding that was happening (it also didn't help that everyone already knew each other and were sharing all kinds of inside jokes and stories), but once the conversation turned to more general things, Jughead felt more at ease.

By the time Lisa arrived, he was completely relaxed.

They sat together in the corner of the guest house's study laughing at the groomsmen's pre-wedding antics.

"Please let me know if I get anywhere near as bad as Polly when my wedding comes around." Lisa muttered, sighing into her beer.

Jughead raised his eyebrows in response.

Lisa's eyes widened as soon as she realized what she'd said and shot a quick glance at Chick. Satisfied that he was thoroughly distracted by trying to convince Jason to have a second beer, she turned back to Jughead.

"Okay, you _can't_ tell Chick," She whispered urgently, "but I found the ring. He's not the greatest at hiding things…or keeping secrets for that matter."

Jughead grinned.

"He loves surprises and would be crushed if he knew I found it." She continued, "You can't say anything!"

Jughead held a hand up as though he were swearing an oath, "You have my word."

Lisa sighed in relief, "Thanks, Jughead."

"So…when do you think he'll do it?" Jughead asked conspiratorially

Smiling, Lisa said, "We have a long weekend getaway to Maine planned next month."

Jughead looked over at Chick, "Very nice. I hear Maine is lovely this time of year. Perfect proposal weather."

Lisa rolled her eyes, "But seriously. Let me know if I ever get to Polly level intense."

Jughead shrugged, "I think you're missing an excellent opportunity for calling in all of Polly's favors. After all, she owes you what…100 at this point?"

Grinning, Lisa tapped her beer can against his, "I like the way you think."

"What are we cheersing to over here?" Chick asked, sauntering up to the pair.

"Oh, just the insanity that is marrying into the Cooper Family." Jughead laughed, gesturing to the boisterous group that was currently regaling one another with stories of the craziest thing they had to do that week for the wedding.

Chick waved them off in mock annoyance, "Oh, please. Lisa, you know that I would be just as happy to be married by a Justice of the Peace and not have to deal with all of this…" turning to Jughead he continued, "And you will have it so easy because Betty's had her dream backyard wedding planned since she was _five_."

Jughead tilted his head, intrigued, "Dream backyard wedding, you say?"

Chick nodded, "Oh, yeah. Her and Archie would reenact their wedding for us almost every weekend for a while there."

Jughead laughed, catching onto the joke, "I knew that Archie's all-American boy-next-door look was just a façade. This whole week he's been trying to steal his childhood bride back. I wonder how Ronnie feels about all this."

"I'd be more concerned for Archie." Lisa commented, "Veronica doesn't seem like the kind of woman you'd want to scorn."

The three just laughed and sipped their beers until it was time to head to the church.

Jughead hung back and found himself alone with Jason as they both tried to clean up a little around the study.

"You don't have to do this." Jason said, smiling at Jughead in gratitude.

"Are you kidding? I should be the one chastising you for picking up empties in your freshly pressed tux that Polly doesn't know you forgot." Jughead replied.

Jason laughed, "You're a good guy, Jughead. I'm glad Betty found her way to you."

Jughead looked over at Jason, curious, "Thanks...but aren't you friends with Chuck?"

Jason nodded, "Don't get me wrong, Chuck and I have been friends for a long time, but it always seemed like Betty was just 'Chuck's girlfriend.' With you, she's…Betty. In fact, she's almost like a whole _new_ Betty. I've never seen her this relaxed and happy since she moved to the city. She's not in anyone's shadow any more…her mother's, Chuck's…you've been really good for her."

Jughead was at a loss for words, "I…er…thank you?"

"No, thank _you_." Jason replied. "She's going to be my sister in about an hour and there's nothing more important than family. I'm glad she's happy."

They stood there in awkward silence for a moment before Jughead cleared his throat. Shoving his hands in his pockets, he snuck a look at Jason, "Are you nervous at all?"

Jason thought for a moment before answering, "Not really. I've sort of known for a awhile that I would be here. I think I knew Polly was the one I was going to marry after we'd only been together for about a week."

"Really?" Jughead asked, "After a week, you just knew?"

"I'm not sure how to explain it," Jason continued, "but we'd gone on a few dates, spent time after school together, and then…I just saw her walk into the cafeteria during lunch and it was just like…I knew that I would never ever tire of having her in my life. That I would follow her anywhere just so long as I could see her every day because whenever I was with her, I felt this… _joy_."

He shook his head as though he was breaking out of a trance, "Sometimes, you just know. It's hard to explain, but you just do."

Jughead nodded, almost stunned. This was the most he'd ever heard Jason speak and he wasn't at all surprised to realize that as he listened, he could only think of one person who made him feel the exact same way.

Betty.

* * *

After a week of finalizing all the excruciating details, Betty was surprised by how quickly the ceremony flew by. The photographer came and got all of the getting ready shots as well as the bridesmaid portraits and before she knew it, she was arm in arm with Mike walking down the aisle, concentrating on not tripping as she did so. She stood at the alter, tears of happiness in her eyes as she watched her older sister walk with their father, looking as regal as a princess, as she was handed off to Jason—the love of her life.

Betty was a sucker for happy endings.

Once the ceremony was over and Jason and Polly were officially pronounced husband and wife, Betty couldn't stop smile that was plastered onto her face. She was sure that the recessional photographs of her walking to the back of the church with Mike would not be flattering, but she didn't care.

Nothing could ruin the happiness of this day.

After she had grabbed her purse from the closet where she had stashed it, she went to go find Jughead so that they could head to the reception site. She found him outside with Lisa, Chick, Archie, and Veronica, getting a $10 bill slapped into his hand from Lisa.

"What's this about?" Betty asked, a swell of pride growing within her watching Jughead act so familiarly with her friends and family.

"Oh, nothing." Jughead answered in a way that told her she would find out in private, "Lisa just lost a bet, that's all."

"I see," Betty laughed.

"That was such a beautiful ceremony." Veronica gushed, "I know Polly was a lot to handle this week, but she got results."

"Uh oh…" Archie sighed in an over exaggerated manner, earning a swat in the arm from his fiancé.

"Relax. We're getting a wedding planner." Veronica stated, rolling her eyes, "There is no way I want to deal with all that stress over the next year. I just want to show up looking fabulous and get married."

"How romantic." Betty laughed.

Veronica continued to roll her eyes, "I think you mean _'Thank you, Veronica, for making my maid of honor duties easy and actually fun.'_ "

Betty grinned, "Something like that."

* * *

The group made their way to the reception hall and mingled during cocktail hour while Polly and Jason were off taking photos.

Veronica had gone to the bar to get the group's first round, when Jughead could no longer keep himself quiet.

"So…" he started out, grinning like a cat who had eaten a canary. Betty eyed him, suspicious.

"Chick told me all about the plans for your 'perfect backyard wedding.' Mozel tov!"

Betty's mouth dropped in shock while Archie threw back his head and laughed, "Oh my god, Bets, I completely forgot about that!"

Betty's cheeks flushed, "We were like…six years old!"

"Do you remember the veil you made yourself out of tissue paper and the shoe-box top hat you made for me?" Archie asked, smiling, "Very ingenious for a six year-old, if I do say so myself."

"How did that even come up?" Betty asked, slightly mortified by her brother's antics.

Jughead, enjoying the way that Betty blushed, shrugged, "He just said that as far as weddings go, I'd have it easy because you'd had your dream backyard wedding all planned out for years."

Archie continued to laugh while Betty sighed, cheeks getting redder at the thought that Chick had brought up her future wedding to Jughead _with Jughead_.

"It's not that it's my dream to get married in our backyard," Betty muttered, trying to figure out how to pivot as quickly as possible from this topic of conversation, "It's just that I wanted a small wedding in a place that was meaningful…like with Archie, my backyard because we always played there after school."

Archie nodded in agreement, "The Cooper's yard was much better for a game of pick-up soccer."

Betty chuckled, "And weddings—which, Chick should be more focused on _himself_ than me in that respect."

Jughead tried to keep his face neutral, but over the past week, Betty had become as remarkably good at reading him as he was of reading her.

"What?" She asked suspiciously, "Do you know something."

Jughead spoke slowly and carefully as he watched Veronica come back with a tray of drinks, Chick and Lisa behind her. How Veronica had talked the bar staff into giving her a tray full of alcohol, Jughead could only guess.

"I have been sworn to secrecy, but I wouldn't be surprised if there was important news announced after your brother and Lisa come back from their trip to Maine."

For the second time that minute, Betty's jaw dropped. Seeing the other three approach, Betty gave Jughead a look that said their current topic of conversation was definitely not over.

"Time to get this party started!" Veronica declared as she walked up to the group.

Jughead took in the array of cocktails on the tray and was slightly stunned. These weren't the usual rum and coke, Jack and Diet orders that one would normally expect at a wedding reception.

"Ronnie, these drinks are beautiful!" Betty blurted out, taking a clear drink garnished with mint and muddled blackberries.

"I know. Aren't they _divine_?" Cheryl exclaimed, as she slipped into the group. The original bartending service backed out last minute, so I had to find a new one. I think I picked quite well, don't you?"

Jughead looked at the redhead warily as the rest of the group eagerly grabbed their cocktails sensing.

Cheryl was up to something.

As if reading his mind, Cheryl turned to him, grinning, "I was talking with one of the master mixologists at the bar and said that there was another prominent New York City bar owner in attendance tonight and she told me to give you this."

As soon as Cheryl placed the frothy reddy-brown cocktail in front of him, Jughead knew exactly what was going on.

And it was bad.

He looked across the room towards the bar and saw her.

Erika Newell, gave Jughead a tiny wave followed quickly by a rude gesture.

He was screwed.

* * *

 **Author's Note: My sincerest apologies that this took so long to update! Life comes at you fast sometimes. I hope you enjoy! We'll see Cheryl's end game come into fruition next chapter...**


	10. Chapter 10: The Reception

"What's wrong, Juggie?" Cheryl asked in false concern, "Do you not like the drink? She assured me that Trinidad Sours were all the rage for Brooklyn bartenders. Maybe I should go back and ask her to make you something else. Oh, what was her name…?"

It took all of Jughead's control not to start yelling at Cheryl. He didn't have to look at Betty to confirm that she knew something was up, but blissfully, the rest seemed unaware.

"I saw her put a shot of bitters in that." Veronica commented, wrinkling her nose, "If that is all the rage in Brooklyn, maybe we should stick to the Upper West Side when Archie and I visit."

After a small, silent prayer to the powers that be for Veronica Lodge's uncanny way of defusing situations with her patiented snark, Jughead flashed Cheryl a strained smile, "Nope. This is perfect, Cheryl. Would have never thought I would be getting one of these at a wedding reception of all places. Normally these are $12 a pop in the city."

With an overly satisfied look, Cheryl gave Jughead's shoulder a small pat, "Welcome to Riverdale."

Running through his options, Jughead took a sip from his cocktail.

He needed to act fast before this blew up.

Veronica continued to make a face, "I can't _believe_ you're drinking that."

Jughead put his glass down, pretending to be deep in thought, "You know, this tastes different than how I make mine. I'm going to go ask how she made it."

He quickly turned and walked away from the cocktail table they were all standing around, heading straight for the bar.

Smirking, Cheryl raised her glass towards him and called, "Please do come back and tell us what her secret is."

Jughead suppressed the urge to roll his eyes at the comment's lack of subtly, but right now, Cheryl had the upper hand and he needed to do damage control.

The bartender crossed her arms as Jughead approached, giving him a scathing look.

"So…this is why you couldn't meet my parents for brunch tomorrow morning. I thought you just had a fear of commitment, I didn't realize that you had a _date_."

Jughead winced at the harsh greeting, "Erika. If you'll just let me explain—"

"She's cute." Erika continued, "Didn't think you had a thing for blondes, but I get it. She's hot, good job. Let me guess…another woman you picked up at Peripeteia?"

He flashed a warning look to the brunette behind the bar, "Erika…Betty's just a friend who needed a plus one to her sister's wedding. This has nothing to do with the fact that our relationship wasn't going anywhere. I thought I would save us both sometime and break it off before I left."

"How can you say that?" Erika asked, a little to loud for Jughead's comfort.

The last thing he wanted was for their conversation to attract any more attention.

"We'd been dating for three months. I was going to have you meet my family." She continued, "I was trying to make it work."

"Things weren't great and you know it." Jughead said softly, looking at her with some remorse, "I'm sorry that I broke it off as abruptly as I did, but I was about to leave for a week and you deserve better than to be strung along."

"I deserve better than a hasty breakup from a guy who wanted to shack up with 'his friend' for a week without a guilty conscience." Erika shot back, "Seriously, who the hell do you think you are, Jughead Jones?"

Out of the corner of his eye, Jughead saw Betty breakoff from the group and head his direction, "Look. Hate me all you want, that's fine. I deserve it. But please do not cause trouble tonight. I don't know what Cheryl has put you up to, but—"

"Oh, Cheryl didn't put me up to anything and don't worry…I'm on the clock. I need this job. Not all of us can get profiles in the New York Times." Erika seethed. She looked over Jughead's shoulder, saw Betty approaching and smiled, "I do, however, have a fifteen-minute break coming up."

Before Jughead could say anything else, Betty rested a hand on his back, shooting him a look of concern as she stood next to him, "Everything okay, Jug?"

Jughead shot Erika a look before responding, "Yeah. Just comparing cocktail notes."

"The secret is egg whites." Erika added, giving Betty a conspiratorial wink, "Gives the drink that silky smooth froth at the top."

Betty's eyebrows rose, "You have raw eggs back there?"

"For those brave enough to order a fizz or a sour."

Jughead wasn't sure what to think at that moment. Erika was playing along, but he could tell that she was still very pissed off about how Jughead had broken things off with her the previous week—which admittedly, Jughead knew wasn't his finest moment—but he wasn't lying when he had told her that they were never going to work. They'd had several fights and one particularly awkward conversation in the back of an Uber at 3 am about the fact that their relationship was having problems. Jughead just thought he'd save them all an awkward brunch and break it off sooner than he'd intended.

And when the opportunity came for him to leave the city for a week, it almost seemed like fate.

What he didn't anticipate, however, was how quickly he could go from friendship with underlying attraction to the precipice of love with a particular blonde lawyer in just one week.

Which was why he owed Betty an explanation.

Fast.

"Betty, we need to—"

"Sister dear!" Cheryl interrupted, swooping in, "JJ and Pol are here and we're needed for the grand entrance."

With an arm snaked around Betty's waist, Cheryl guided Betty, who flashed Jughead an apologetic look, towards the reception hall's atrium.

Raking a hand through his hair, Jughead turned back to Erika, "Please. Don't do anything tonight."

Erika raised an eyebrow, "Wow. You really like her."

Jughead sighed and nodded.

"Shame." She replied with a tsk, "I really liked you too, but…it doesn't always work out, now does it?"

Before Jughead could ask what she meant, Veronica appeared with Archie and Lisa behind her.

"Come on!" She chided, grabbing Jughead's arm, "Swap drink recipes later. We need to find our table before the intro to 'Can't Stop the Feeling' starts and we watch our friends do very awkward and embarrassing dances into the ballroom."

Jughead let Veronica drag him away but gave the bar one last look over his shoulder.

He did not like the look of Erika's smirk as she watch him walk away.

* * *

When Cheryl had first come over to the group, Betty had been concerned.

She'd clearly done or said something that put Jughead on edge, but Betty had no idea what it was.

When Jughead had walked over to the female bartender, Betty felt as though her stomach had fallen to the floor.

She had never really put much thought into Jughead's romantic life before this week—he was never really one to talk about relationships when they were at Peripeteia. She'd just assumed that he was single based on the crazy hours he worked and how he never seemed to be in a rush to get off of work in order to get back home to a special someone.

It would make sense, though, if that special someone was also in the industry and kept a similar schedule.

Had she been sharing a bed with someone else's boyfriend?

Guilt washed over her as she watched Jughead and the bartender talk.

She needed to get to the bottom of whatever this was.

She excused herself from the group and slowly walked over, trying to catch their conversation, but was unable to over the din.

Whatever they were talking about, Jughead's shoulders were tense.

Something wasn't right.

"Everything okay, Jug?" She asked, as she reached the bar.

Jughead looked at the bartender in a way that Betty couldn't place, "Yeah. Just comparing cocktail notes."

The bartender turned to address Betty and she got her first good look at the woman. She was about Betty's height, with dark wavy hair that had been pulled back into a ponytail that nearly reached her waist. Though she wore the same black pant, white shirt, black vest uniform as the rest of the bartending staff, hers was maybe a size smaller than it should be so that they hugged her curves.

She was gorgeous.

"The secret is egg whites." The bartender added with a wink, "Gives the drink that silky smooth froth at the top."

Betty blinked. Jughead had just lied and the bartender was going along with whatever he was doing.

Letting out a breath she didn't know she was holding, Betty just stood there, not sure what any of this meant. She felt a weird mixture of disappointment, sadness, and…anger?

"You have raw eggs back there?" She asked, trying to understand her warring feelings.

The bartender seemed to pick up on Betty's unease, because she added with a smirk, "For those brave enough to order a fizz or a sour."

Jughead turned to Betty, looking at her with urgency.

"Betty, we need to—"

But before he could finish, Cheryl appeared out of nowhere, "Sister dear! JJ and Pol are here and we're needed for the grand entrance."

As much as Betty wanted to stay and ask Jughead what was going on. She wasn't sure she wanted to know the answer.

She let Cheryl lead her away, her mind racing.

Betty had no right to be mad at Jughead for being in a relationship.

From the very beginning, she'd been perfectly clear that this was going to be a platonic favor and nothing more.

Yet…over the last week, it seemed like things had changed.

She'd always enjoyed being around Jughead—she wouldn't spend hours in his bar multiple days a week if she didn't—and she'd always thought he was attractive…but he was also just Jughead.

This week she got to know a different side of him and he of her. She had introduced him to her family and friends—taking all of the week's curveballs in stride.

Together they were goofy and comfortable…she felt like she could be her true self around him, not just the New York City lawyer who needed a post work drink after a long day of legal research and dealing with difficult clients.

She even could have sworn there were a few moments when she caught Jughead looking at her almost as if he felt the same way about her too.

Which was why she could feel her heart threatening to break because she had thought, for maybe just a moment, that they had stopped pretending to like each other and maybe actually…did.

She quickly shook her head as they reached the rest of the bridal party that had started to congregate by the doors, trying to get it together. It would do her no good to go down a thought spiral when she didn't know the full story.

Betty needed to talk to Jughead.

She just had to get through her maid of honor speech first.

* * *

Jughead tried to relax during dinner, but for the first time in his life, he had lost his appetite.

He kept quiet during the entrée service, pushing his food around his plate as he tried to figure out how to talk to Betty before anything happened...

…and what he'd say to Betty when he found a moment to talk to her.

The sound of silverware clinking against glass snapped him out of his thoughts as he looked up to see Mike giving his best man speech. It was short and to the point, including only one embarrassing story from their college days.

Then it was Betty's turn.

Jughead found himself leaning forward in his chair as he watched her hesitantly take the microphone.

"Hello, I'm Polly's sister Betty…" she paused seeming to collect her thoughts and looked out into the crowd. Finding her parents, she began again, "My parents named me Elizabeth, but it was Polly who was the first to call me Betty. She insisted that Mom and Dad had gotten it wrong and that I was more of a 'Betty' than an 'Elizabeth' and per usual, Polly was right."

Jughead felt himself smile as a small chuckle spread through the crowd.

Encouraged, Betty continued her eyes moving to her sister, "Growing up, we were inseparable. Though she's a year older, people often mistook us for twins. Sometimes I think even we forgot that weren't.

"There has never been a moment in my life when I knew that I couldn't rely on my big sister to be there…for an encouraging pep talk before a cheer competition, for a late night study session before a big test, for a trip to Pop's for a milkshake after acing said test…" Betty smiled, as Polly chuckled.

"Even now, though we live hours apart, she's only a phone call away. I really couldn't have asked for a better big sister and I am so incredibly happy to see you find someone as wonderful as Jason to spend the rest of your life with."

Jughead could tell Betty was close to tears as she looked back out into the crowd, searching.

"Freshman year of high school if you had given me a yearbook and told me to pick out two people most unlikely to date one another, I Jason and Polly would probably have been on the short list. But here we are."

Here eyes finally found Jughead's and she took in a deep breath, "Life is like that sometimes. Things that may not seem to make sense at first end up to being the thing you find yourself unable to live without. Something so imperfectly perfect that you can't imagine it being any other way."

Jughead felt his cheeks warm as, Betty looked back at her sister, "Though Polly would be quick to tell you that she is, in fact, perfect and you must simply be mistaken."

The laughter began again as Betty reached for her glass.

"None of us would be here right now if these two hadn't found their way to one another and I honestly can't think of anywhere else I would rather be in this moment than celebrating the love and life that these two have made for each other. To Polly and Jason!"

Everyone joined Betty in raising their glasses and Jughead sat there thinking over what Betty had said.

He took a sip from his glass and looked over at Veronica who was just looking at him with raised eyebrows-smug. Of course she saw the double meaning in Betty's speech.

Looking over at Cheryl, Jughead paled.

She sat at the head table next to Betty looking at him with what could only be described as a sinister smile.

Jughead looked back at Veronica who was also looking at Cheryl, eyes narrowing in thought.

He practically saw the gears turning in her mind.

Zeroing back in on him, Veronica downed the rest of her cocktail before gesturing to Jughead, "Looks like we're both low on libations. Let's go to the bar."

Jughead simply nodded, knowing that he was about to have an extremely awkward conversation.

Indeed, they had only gotten halfway to the bar before Veronica pulled him to the side and fixed him with one of her fixed looks.

"Something's going on here with you at Cheryl and you're going to tell me what it is so I can prevent Betty from getting hurt."

It felt as though a bucket of ice had been dumped on him.

"Ronnie, there is nothing going on between Cheryl and I," Jughead quickly explained, "She is the last person I would-"

Veronica interrupted him with a wave of her hand, " _Obviously_. That wasn't what I meant."

Jughead frowned, "Then what..."

Leaning forward so that she closed the distance between the two of them, Veronica dropped her voice, "I mean that judging by that speech, Betty is really falling for you and Cheryl looks like the cat that just caught a mouse. You're hiding something and I am willing to bet that Cheryl knows what it is."

Jughead gulped. Veronica was way more perceptive than he had given her credit for and he could tell that she was gearing up for the kill.

"I am also willing to bet that whatever it is will hurt Betty," Veronica continued, crossing her arms, "So you're going to tell me what it is so that we can stop that bitch from ruining an otherwise perfect day."

Jughead breathed a sigh of relief.

Looking at the raven haired spitfire in front of him, he realized that she wasn't mad at him. She was mad at the redhead sitting at the head table—a common enemy. Veronica wasn't turning on him. She was wanting to help him.

They were truly friends.

He knew in that moment that he could tell her not just about Erika, but about everything. Chuck, Betty's desperate plea, his developing feelings for Betty...everything.

Taking a deep breath, Jughead began at the beginning, sending up another silent prayer of thanks that the world had someone like Veronica Lodge.

* * *

 **Author's Note: It all comes to a head next chapter! Thanks for the reviews, follows, and favorites. You guys are amazing! :)**


	11. Chapter 11: The Truth

Veronica stood there, quietly analyzing everything Jughead had just told her.

She had seen her fair share of plans go awry, but this one took the cake.

While she had only just suspected that something fishy was going on, she would not have guessed that it was the fact that her best friend and the guy she'd brought home for the wedding had been pretending to be in a relationship all week.

She'd seen Betty in several relationships over the years—Dexter Howard in the early years of high school, summer before senior year fling with Trevor Brown, and of course her longest and most recent relationship with Chuck Clayton—but Veronica instantly knew Jughead was different. She knew it when she first saw them together in the grocery store.

Betty was many things, but completely unguarded—especially around a boy—wasn't one of them.

And there she was, in the middle of the produce section, watching with genuine joy as this tall dark and brooding guy knocked on various melons. Veronica didn't know who that guy was, but she knew in that moment that he was the One.

Veronica had no idea that the six-month relationship they'd pretended to have was really a week of acting—but from all appearances, they'd stopped acting days ago.

Maybe they never really had started to begin with.

Regardless, Veronica switched into damage control mode. Cheryl had always been passive aggressively bitchy towards Betty, but Veronica would be damned if she let Cheryl blow up Betty and Jughead's relationship before it even had a chance to truly start.

Veronica scanned the room and saw that the first dances were starting. The lights began to dim and she saw the bartender, Erika, sneak out the backdoor that lead to the venue's alleyway.

Turning her attention to Jughead, she arched an eyebrow, "You said that Erika told you she had a break coming up?"

Jughead looked at her, wondering where she was going with this, "Yes. Why?"

"Follow me."

Veronica didn't wait for Jughead to respond before she turned and made a beeline for the door Erika had exited through. Jughead had no choice but to follow. He gave the head table one last glace before they left the room, relieved to see that both Betty and Cheryl seemed to be distracted, watching their older siblings share their first dance together as a married couple.

The last thing he wanted was for Betty or—god forbid—Cheryl follow them out to where ever Veronica was taking him.

They walked out into the back alleyway and saw Erika leaning against the building's wall, lit cigarette in hand.

Upon seeing them, Erika rolled her eyes, "Boy, Jughead, you sure get around."

"You can stop this whole devil-may-care act at any time," Veronica shot back, before Jughead could even open his mouth to respond, "I'll wait."

Crossing her arms to prove her point, Veronica stared Erika down for a few uncomfortable seconds before the brunette realized that she was dealing with a proper opponent.

Tossing her cigarette to the ground, Erika narrowed her eyes, "What do you want?"

"What I _want_ ," Veronica started, taking a step forward, "is for you to not cause any trouble tonight."

Erika scoffed, but Veronica held up a hand, "I'm not saying that Jughead doesn't deserved to be yelled at for how he broke things off with you—which you are welcome to do out here once I leave by the way."

Jughead opened his mouth to protest, but instantly closed it when Veronica flashed him a warning look.

Focusing back on the brunette, Veronica continued, "But you will leave my friend Betty out of it. Do you understand?"

Erika just smirked, "I don't have to answer to you."

Veronica took another step forward, "My father currently sits on the Board of Directors for the Greater New York City Chapter of the New York State Restaurant Association…so yes, you do. Unless you don't want to work in any New York City bar or restaurant that's worth anything that is."

Jughead's eyebrows shot up at this revelation. So did Erika's.

"The Blossoms may run this town, but Lodge Industries runs New York. I would think very carefully before you say anything you might later regret." Veronica smiled sweetly, "Now, I'm going to go inside and you can give Juggie here the prepared speech I'm sure you have, but once you step back through that door…"

Erika paused for a moment before giving Veronica a slight nod.

"I'm glad we were able to come to an understanding." Veronica stated. She gave Jughead—who was staring at her stunned—a small shrug before turning to head back inside.

" _Jesus_ , Jug. Where do you find these people?" Erika asked.

They stood there in an awkward silence as Erika lit up another cigarette.

"I'm really sorry." Jughead began, "I know what I did was shitty. I took the easy way out and in doing so, hurt you. I didn't think…well, that was the problem. I didn't think. I'm sorry I hurt you, Erika. It wasn't my intention. I know that probably doesn't mean much, but I'm sorry all the same."

Erika took a long drag of her cigarette, wanting Jughead to wait for her acceptance of his apology for just a little bit longer, "Thank you, Jug."

Jughead turned back to walk inside, but Erika cleared her throat.

"You were right, you know. In there." She motioned her chin toward the door behind Jughead, "We weren't going anywhere. I knew it, I just…wasn't ready for it to be over yet. It just really sucked seeing you move on so quickly."

Jughead took a few steps forward, trying to figure out the right thing to say, "It honestly started out as just doing a favor for a friend. Betty's boyfriend had just dumped her," Erika choked out a bitter laugh as Jughead continued, "And her family is…well, you've seen some of the dynamics of this town. She needed a plus one to her sister's wedding, and—"

"And you ended up falling for her." Erika finished with a chuckle, "I thought you hated clichés."

Jughead rolled his eyes and smiled, "As a general rule, I do. But in this case…"

"I get it. Just don't be a dick to this one, okay?" She stated, placing her hands on her hips.

"I'll try not to." He said, giving her a wry grin.

Erika grinned, "Great. Now, go back inside. I have a few more minutes of my break left and I want to spend them in peace."

Jughead nodded and headed inside.

It didn't take him long to find Betty, who was just leaving the dancefloor, the bridal party dance just getting done.

"You okay?" Betty asked, confused as to why he had just come from outside.

"Can we talk?" He asked, "Somewhere...slightly more private?"

Betty nodded and moved to follow him when she saw something behind him that made her face fall.

Frowning, Jughead turned around, but didn't see anything other than a sea of people, making their way to the dancefloor.

"What?" he asked turning back to the blonde, "What's wrong?"

Betty sighed and looked at him with an expression Jughead couldn't place, "Let's just go find a place to talk, Jug."

Confused, he followed as she headed towards the venue's lobby.

* * *

Betty had noticed at some point during Jason's dance with his mother that Jughead was no longer in the reception hall. She had also noticed that the female bartender Jughead had been talking with was also no longer in the reception hall. Hoping that it was just a coincidence, she forced a smile and went out to dance when the bridal party was encouraged to do so by the DJ.

Her smile fell, however, when she saw Jughead come in through the hall's back door suddenly wanting to talk, his entrance closely followed by the female bartender's.

They had been out there together.

Suddenly unable to face him, Betty turned to walk towards the lobby, feeling crushed.

It was happening all over again. Another guy was leaving her for another girl.

She knew, rationally, that she wasn't really in a relationship with Jughead—so why did it hurt so much?

Betty collected her thoughts as they made it to the lobby, spotting two armchairs off in an unoccupied corner.

They both sat down and awkwardly sat in silence for a few seconds before Jughead sighed, "Betty, there is something that I need to tell you."

Betty's heart fell. This was it.

"It's okay, Jug. I know." She whispered, unable to look at him.

Jughead paused, "You do?"

"It's okay." She continued, trying her best to blink back tears.

"It is?"

Betty took a deep breath, "Yes. You've been incredible this week. More than incredible. I honestly can't thank you enough for all the help you've been with everything and dealing with my insane family. I'm not sure what I expected, but then again, I never asked…"

She trailed off for a moment as she tried to calm her racing mind. She focused more intently on the hem of her dress as she felt all of the things she'd been keeping in that evening bubbling to the surface.

" _Of course_ you're seeing someone. Why wouldn't you be?" She blurted out.

Betty could feel Jughead's gaze on her, but much to her horror, she couldn't stop talking, "I can't believe I was stupid enough to think you weren't. You're obviously a great guy and it's my fault for not seeing that sooner. You're a good friend, Jug. I'm really glad you came with me this week. I'm glad that I've gotten to know you better.

"I'm glad…" she paused taking in a shaky breath, "I'm just _glad_." She finished lamely, mortified by what Jughead had to have been thinking in that moment.

"Betty…" Jughead began, gently resting his fingers under her chin and slowly raising her face so that she was looking at him.

Trying her hardest not to cry, Betty met his gaze, waiting for him to confirm what she already knew.

"Betty, I'm not seeing anyone."

Betty felt like all the air had been knocked out of her, "What?"

"Erika…the bartender you met…" Jughead started, "We dated. Recently. And I didn't really break up with her in the best way. Recently." He added.

"Oh." Betty managed, unsure of what to say.

"Cheryl somehow found out and tried to stage a scene, but it seems as though you have very well connected friends." Betty frowned, confused as to what he meant as Jughead continued, "I spoke to Erika, apologized for breaking things off so suddenly, and everything is fine now."

He paused looking at her for a moment, "Well, clearly everything is not fine between us, but I want you to know that this whole week…this whole time that I have been with you, I've only been with you."

Betty blinked.

"And I would _like_ to continue being with you, in a more official and real capacity once we're back in New York City."

"Oh." Betty breathed, her body flooding with relief.

Jughead gave her a wry grin, "I mean, if we're _this_ good at being in a fake relationship, the real thing has got be pretty incredible."

Betty smiled, almost dizzy with relief, "That does appear to be the logical conclusion."

"So what do you say we head back in there and put our little theory to the test?"

Laughing, Betty made to stand, but Jughead reached out and gently tugged at her wrist, causing Betty to fall into his lap.

"First, however…" he said in a tone that made Betty shiver, "I believe this is _long_ overdue."

Before she could blink, Betty felt Jughead's lips press into hers, softly at first—almost apologetically for the fact that it had taken so long—but quickly grew in intensity. They both seemed pretty determined to make up for lost time.

They lost track of time, too caught up in each other to pay any attention to their surroundings, but when they heard a throat clear pointedly behind them, they reluctantly turned to face a bemused Veronica.

"Betty, come on. Your presence is required on the dance floor." she stated, grinning from ear to ear, "It's bouquet toss time and you know Polly is going to make sure she tosses it to you."

Blushing, Betty shot Jughead and rueful look as she de-tangled herself from his lap.

"We can pick this up later." he joked, giving her arm a reassuring squeeze.

Betty chuckled as she headed back into the ballroom and Veronica hung around barely able to suppress her amusement.

"You're enjoying this far too much." Jughead accused, unable to keep a grin from his from his own face.

"I'm sure I have no idea what you mean, Jughead Jones." With a wink, she turned to follow Betty into the ballroom.

Jughead sat there, unable to believe that saying yes Betty Cooper's admittedly insane request only a week ago would have ended up with him sitting there, in an insanely ornate lobby, new found friends and family in the next room, happier than he had ever been in his life.

* * *

 **Author's Note: Sorry to make you wait this long for an update, but I hope the contents more than made up for it. 😉**


	12. Epilogue: The Ceremony

Compared to Polly and Jason's wedding, Betty and Jughead's was far less of an ordeal.

There was no week of wedding related festivities that proceeded it. No Pinterest perfect couples shower to stress over.

Most importantly, no secret subterfuges to scramble to stay on top of.

Jughead closed _Peripeteia_ for the weekend and worked with Archie, who had come to the city early to assist with wedding set up as Jughead's Best Man, to get tables and chairs rearranged so that it would be ready for events of the big day.

Jughead and Archie had grown to become the best of friends in the three years since they first met during that crazy week where Jughead served as Betty's plus one. Jughead had even earned a spot as one of Archie's groomsmen at his own wedding later that first year. He and Veronica pretty much claimed the guest bedroom in the condo Betty and Jughead had recently purchased, making frequent trips into the city to visit.

Betty and Jughead had opted for a smaller wedding celebration. Fifty of their closest friends and family for a cocktail hour before a quick ceremony would happen in the middle of the place where they had first met. It was informal and nontraditional—Alice Cooper most certainly hated the idea of it—but it was them.

They didn't have to do much in way of décor, not wanting to detract from the ambiance of the bar where they had (without knowing it) fallen in love. Betty and Veronica got several bouquets of assorted flowers at the neighborhood's farmer's market—where Betty and Jughead had their first official date upon returning from Riverdale—splitting the flowers and greenery among tiny vases that were placed on each table and along the bar. They added a few votive candles scattered around the venue and it was all they needed.

Simple yet perfect.

Betty and Jughead wanted their reception to be as low fuss as possible and instead, focus on having their guests experience an evening of good food, good drinks, and lots of dancing. Jughead had started a music series at the bar and one of his and Betty's favorite bands had agreed to play the evening of their reception. It was truly a celebration of them and their lives as they began the rest of their journey together and not about going through the motions of the pomp and circumstance that wasn't really all that important to either of them.

Jughead had even floated the idea of leaving the ceremony out altogether, but Betty had assured him that while she could get her mother on board with an unconventional wedding, she did not want to face Alice's wrath about being left out of the ceremony all together.

Besides, she had argued, the ceremony was all for show anyway.

On Archie and Veronica's most recent trip into the city, they had been Betty and Jughead's witnesses during their official—and most importantly, stress free—wedding ceremony at City Hall. They were already legally married, but at least during this ceremony, they would have champagne toast immediately after. Something that City Hall frowned upon.

For what seemed like the thousandth time, Jughead couldn't believe how much his life had changed—drastically for the better—when Betty had walked into his bar that fateful night, desperate and in need of a wedding date. In fact, it was exactly three years to the day of that momentous moment and there they stood, holding each other's hands in the middle of _Peripeteia_ as they repeated their wedding vows in front of their friends and family—and a begrudgingly happy Cheryl Blossom.

They were more than ready publicly celebrate their marriage.

As nontraditional as their wedding day was, Jughead was secretly pleased that Betty had opted to wear a wedding dress. It was a vintage style dress that came down to just below her knees and had a simple A-line satin skirt that blended into the lace of an off the shoulder top that completed the simple-yet-sophisticated look. She kept her hair and makeup simple, opting for a bold lip with a simple cat eye that Veronica had undoubtedly talked her into after seeing the vintage vibe of Betty's dress. Her hair had been styled similarly to how it had been for Polly's wedding—minus the flower crown—and to Jughead she looked perfect.

Then again, he would say that she looked perfect every day of the week regardless of what she was wearing.

Betty had actually talked Jughead into getting a suit other than the one he had worn in Archie's wedding, and he was glad that he had decided to wear all three pieces, secretly loving how good the properly tailored suit made him feel. Besides, he knew that he would be getting a lot more mileage out of it soon.

Earlier that year he had self-published a book of short stories and with Betty's help, gotten it onto the shelves of the city's independent bookstores where it became a sleeper hit after a copy had found its way to the desk of the literary editor of the New Yorker. He would shortly be heading out on a book tour that was relatively small but exciting all the same. It would help him secure a publisher for the novel he was currently working on: a story about a town where a seemingly innocent role-playing game slowly descends a small town into chaos. Jughead had a feeling it could turn into a mystery series.

Betty kept rising within her firm, moving quickly from an associate lawyer to recently becoming a junior partner. If she stayed on her current track, she would become a full partner within the next five years. She still frequented _Peripeteia_ several times a week as a paying, albeit regularly comped, customer. Much to her surprise and delight, Jughead had started bringing her into some of the behind the scenes work—asking her to sit in with him as he met with his wine distributors to sample new wines to help him pick which ones should be added to the menu. He also sought her opinion on the various bar renovation designs he was planning to do within the next couple of years as the bar continued to rise in popularity.

To say that both Betty and Jughead were happy would be a gross understatement.

Everyone who surrounded them as they held hands during their formal-yet-informal wedding ceremony saw the unbridled joy in their expressions as they gazed at each other. Even Cheryl had to admit that they were good for one another and was glad that her plan to throw a wedge between them fell apart.

It still didn't stop her from being insanely jealous.

Polly and Jason looked on, each of them holding one of their eighteen-month-old twins, happy that it was their wedding that had brought Betty and Jughead together. Once they had returned from their honeymoon, Betty had told her sister all that had happened during the wedding week: how her and Chuck's relationship really ended, her crazy idea that Jughead agreed to go along with, Cheryl's attempt at meddling...

..how Betty and Jughead found themselves wanting to be together at the end of it.

Which of course led Polly to take credit for their relationship and had her beaming with pride as she watched her younger sister as she spoke her vows.

"Jug," Betty began, her voice already catching after one word, "when I saw _Peripeteia's_ sign on my first day after moving to New York, I knew that if I went into this place, I was in for something special. I felt as though it was a sign—that I had finally found a place where I belonged. And I was right.

"I found what would quickly become my favorite neighborhood hangout, the best wine selection in Manhattan, and a brooding bartender who would quickly become one of my closest friends.

"I never thought that by walking through those doors," Betty smiled as she threw a look over her shoulder at _Peripeteia's_ front entrance, "That I would find someone as smart and funny and…so incredibly thoughtful as a friend let alone be able to one day have the honor of calling my husband"

The crowed let out a collective 'aww' which caused Betty to laugh. She snuck a glance over at Veronica who was gently dabbing a handkerchief under her eyes, shooting a half-hearted glare at her best friend for making her ruin her makeup.

Looking back at Jughead, Betty finished, "I cannot imagine my life without you, and I cannot wait to spend the rest of it with you at my side."

It took Jughead a moment to get a handle on his emotions enough that he could say his vows. He looked past Betty at Chick, who gave him an enthusiastic double thumbs up. Chuckling a little, Jughead gave Betty's hands a reassuring squeeze and spoke.

"Even though I'm a writer I've struggled to find the right words to say in this moment and it took me a while to realized that it's because there aren't any. The dictionary lacks a word sufficient enough to express how I feel when I see you after having a particularly stressful day and with just one look you, let me know that everything is going to be alright.

"There isn't a word that is strong enough to convey how much I love it when you wrinkly your nose when you're working on a particularly difficult brief or sing to yourself when you make your morning cup of coffee and think no one's around to hear."

Betty's cheeks flushed as she chuckled along with the crowd.

Jughead simply grinned.

"There are no words that accurately describe how happy I feel when I realize that I get to spend the rest of my life with you—my friend, my one-time co-conspirator," he said with a wink, "My partner. My wife."

Betty and Jughead kissed as the crowd burst into cheers and the band began to play. Jughead broke the embrace by pulling away, spinning Betty with a flourish as they made their way to the dance floor for their first dance. Now that the ceremony was over, the bar's staff began passing out flutes of champagne and tray after tray of hors d'oeuvres. It was time to party.

Compared to Polly and Jason's wedding, Betty and Jughead's was far less of an ordeal.

Betty and Jughead wouldn't have had it any other way.

* * *

 **Author's Note: I just wanted to take a moment to thank everyone who took the time to review, favorite, and follow this story-for sticking with it during those long breaks between posting. You guys are amazing and all the support you've given this little ficlet is so incredibly humbling.**

 **Thank you for being the best readers a gal could ask for. :)**


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